A series of incidents in which underwater cables in the seas around Finland have been damaged in recent months are the results of accidents, and not Russian sabotage, according to a report by the Washington Post.

Citing European and US intelligence sources, the paper writes that investigations into the incidents have so far found "no indication that commercial ships suspected of dragging anchors across seabed systems did so intentionally or at the direction of Moscow".

The article adds that Finnish intelligence officials agree with the assessment of their international counterparts that the damage suspected to have been caused by the Eagle S oil tanker to an underwater cable on Christmas Day was likely accidental.

However, WP notes that Finnish officials say it is impossible to completely rule out any Russian involvement.

"US and European officials said that the evidence gathered to date — including intercepted communications and other classified intelligence — points to accidents caused by inexperienced crews serving aboard poorly maintained vessels," the article states.

"Total B.S."

However, the newspaper also interviews Pekka Toveri — a retired army general and current Member of Parliament representing the National Coalition Party — who tells WP that any suggestion the Eagle S tanker damaged the cable accidentally is "total B.S. [bullshit]".

Toveri noted that Russia's security services would be careful not to leave any trace of evidence that could be used in court in a potential criminal trial.

"The most important thing in any hybrid operation is deniability," he said and also pointed to the fact that Russia is known to have mapped Western seabed infrastructure as a means of identifying its vulnerabilities.

Both Toveri and naval expert Mike Plunkett also make the point that it's hard to believe the crew of a vessel would not notice its anchor was dragging along the sea bed — especially for distances of up to 100km.

"Aside from a very loud splash, there will also be a lot of noise from the anchor chain paying out through the hawse hole," Plunkett said.

Their views were further backed up by Detective Chief Inspector Sami Liimatainen of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which is investigating the incident involving the Eagle S tanker.

"I'm not even going to comment on something like that [the Washington Post article], but I'll leave foreign newspapers to their own information. The NBI is investigating the crime," Liimatainen told Yle, adding that he has not previously heard any of the claims made in the Washington Post article.