Finland to Cut Cable Lines Carrying Up to 70% of Russia’s Foreign Web Traffic

Finnish grid operator Fingrid has notified Russian telecommunications companies that it will cease servicing power transmission pylons carrying cross-border fiber-optic internet cables starting next year, RBC Ukraine reported on July 30, citing Russian media.

Under the planned measures, Finnish authorities intend to disconnect the fiber-optic communication lines and completely dismantle the supporting power pylons.

The decision follows the halt of Russian electricity exports to Finland in 2022, which rendered the physical maintenance of power grid structures strictly for telecom purposes economically unviable for both Fingrid and Russian commercial operators, RBC Ukraine wrote, citing Russian business daily Kommersant.

The impending shutdown presents a logistical hurdle for Russian internet infrastructure. Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, transit through Finland has comprised roughly 60 to 70 percent of Russia’s total international web traffic. Additionally, fiber-optic lines mounted on electricity pylons account for up to 30 percent of all communication links between the two nations, according to RBC Ukraine.

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To offset the loss of infrastructure, Russian telecom providers have opened negotiations with private Finnish telecommunication firms to establish alternative routing options and prevent disruptions to cross-border data flows.

The European Union had recently also moved to penalize nearly 90 additional Russian banks under its 21st sanctions package, bringing the total number of blacklisted lenders to over 100—cutting off more than half of Russia’s internationally connected financial institutions.

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