VILNIUS - The damaging of two undersea telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea should be presumed to be sabotage, Germany said on Tuesday, while Lithuania's armed forces boosted surveillance of its waters in response.

Two undersea fibre-optic communications cables in the Baltic Sea, including one linking Finland and Germany, were severed, raising suspicions of sabotage by bad actors, countries and companies involved said on Monday.

The severing of an undersea communications cable between Germany and Finland is likely to have been an act of sabotage, Germany’s defence minister has said. Boris Pistorius said it was unclear who was responsible for what he described as a “hybrid” warfare tactic.