Undersea cable cuts in the Baltic Sea are stoking geopolitical tensions — here's what's going on

Geopolitical tensions are brewing globally over the cutting of subsea cables — critical infrastructure powering cross-border internet connectivity — in the Baltic Sea.

The severing of the cables prompted warnings of "sabotage" and potential "hybrid" warfare targeting key infrastructure in the West amid further escalations in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

CNBC explains all you need to know about the undersea incident — and why it's ratcheting up global geopolitical tensions.

Last week, two undersea cables were severed in the Baltic Sea, raising suspicions that subsea communication systems may be the latest target of sabotage against the West, as it clashes with Russia over the country's invasion of Ukraine.

One of the cables disrupted was C-Lion1, which links Finland and Germany and is owned by Cinia, a Finnish state-controlled IT firm. Spanning nearly 1,200 kilometers (730 miles), it is the only direct connection of its kind between Finland and Central Europe.

The other cable damaged was one connecting Lithuania and Sweden, BCS East West Interlink. Arelion, the company which owns it, told CNBC data traffic was rerouted to alternative links as it worked to repair the cable. Data traffic flowing through the cable is carried by Telia Lithuania.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, Telia Lithuania said that the BCS East West Interlink cable had been "restored," with traffic flows resuming. "This incident reminded us of the importance of not taking internet connectivity for granted," Andrius Šemeškevičius, Telia's chief technology officer, said in a statement. 

Repairing subsea cables is no mean feat, according to Andy Champagne, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Akamai Labs.

"While we're linked together with a