Attacks on Underwater Infrastructure: International Legal Aspects and the Problem of Responsibility

INTRODUCTION. Underwater infrastructure, which is represented by underwater cables and pipelines, plays a critical role in the global economy. Underwater cables ensure stable transmission of information between countries and continents, and pipelines ensure energy supplies. It is quite difficult to control underwater infrastructure due to the fact that a significant part of it is located underwater at great depths. In addition, underwater infrastructure passes through underwater territory that is a part of the state territory and also through territories that are characterized by mixed and international legal regimes. In addition to unintentional damage as a result of natural factors, in recent years, underwater infrastructure has been subject to some targeted attacks. Sabotage, cable breaks and loss of cables have been regularly occurring, which raises the question of how exactly an investigation of such incidents should be carried out, and whether it is possible to bring the guilty party to international responsibility.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. This study was based on a comprehensive analysis of both academic literature examining various political, legal, and technical aspects related to underwater infrastructure, and international legal documents regulating the installation and maintenance of underwater cables and pipelines. The research methodology is based on general theoretical methods, specifically, formal logic, deduction and induction, analysis, and synthesis. In addition to all of the above, specific scientific methods such as historical and comparative legal approaches were also employed in preparing the article.

RESEARCH RESULTS. The article analyzes the main stages of the development of international legal cooperation in protection of critical underwater infrastructure, as well as key legal aspects arising from the process of its installation and maintenance. In particular, the article covers the problem of organizing investigations aſter damage of underwater cables and pipelines and provides the classification of underwater crimes from the point of international law. The work also examines specific cases of damage to underwater infrastructure in recent years, analyzes the legal and political consequences of the committed attacks, and evaluates the response measures and their effectiveness.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION. The underwater arena can already be considered a distinct sphere of interstate confrontation. The intensification of deliberate attacks on underwater cables and pipelines in recent years has raised the issue of new challenges arising from terrorist attacks on underwater facilities. International legal regulation of underwater infrastructure is more in line with the realities of the 20th century than the 21st, in which digital communications are critically important for any state. Given the existing gaps in international law, the likelihood that states will resort to underwater sabotage as part of a modern "hybrid" confrontation can be assessed as quite high.

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