The repair of the submarine fiber optic cable linking Iturup and Kunashir, part of the Kuril chain, was completed by Rostelecom ahead of the initially planned schedule. Officials from the Sakhalin regional government confirmed that all communications on the Kuril Islands are fully restored, signaling a return to routine connectivity after the disruption. This outcome was announced through a government telegram channel and subsequent statements from regional authorities.
According to the official update, repair crews organized the work without delay and managed to finish the project earlier than anticipated. The message emphasized that the rapid mobilization and efficient execution allowed the teams to beat the original timeline, restoring essential communications sooner than expected. Authorities stressed that the fix was conducted with priority given to continuity of service for residents and businesses across the affected islands.
The ministry also indicated that the remaining restoration work was scheduled to be completed before the end of the navigation season in early January 2024. If that target was not met, there remained a possibility that Kuril Island communications could be interrupted again until May, impacting ferry schedules, weather monitoring, and emergency response capabilities. Local officials warned that any extended outage would further complicate life on the remote archipelago and hinder regional coordination with the mainland.
Earlier in October, two Kuril islands reported an outage caused by damage to the submarine cable. Sakhalin authorities acted swiftly to implement all necessary measures to mitigate the impact, maintain critical services, and begin rapid aftercare to prevent further consequences of the incident. The proactive response helped stabilize communication and reduce downtime while recovery work proceeded.
In a separate development, Rostelecom announced in November that it was assessing damage to a communications cable that traversed the territorial waters of the Helsinki (Finnish) economic zone. The incident highlighted the broader vulnerabilities of transborder fiber networks that span multiple jurisdictions and require coordinated cross-border responses to minimize disruption. Industry and government observers noted the importance of robust fault management and proactive maintenance for critical telecom infrastructure in the North and Arctic regions.
Previously, the Ministry of Energy had reported improvements in energy supply restoration across several affected regions, signaling a broader rebound from the service-wide disruption and underscoring ongoing efforts to restore full operational capacity across energy and communications networks. (attribution: regional government communiqués and Rostelecom press releases)