Just this week, Duma member Alexander Kazakov claimed Russian sabotage in the Baltic Sea was part of a military operation aimed at provoking NATO and enlarging Russia’s control over the area.
It might provoke NATO, though I have a hard time seeing Russia benefiting from that. But I don't see how cutting cables is doing anything to enlarge Russia's control over the area.
EDIT: Here's the clip the article references:
https://youtu.be/HQATDINMI-M?t=281
Kazakov: From the very beginning, I disagree with the description. These stories are not about the pirates. These are clearly military stories. At a certain point in time, for us. the Baltic Sea became a theater of military operations. This was unavoidable. For us, for our country, this is a historic goal. Right now, we are carrying out one task. We are liberating the Black Sea and restoring our status as a maritime power of the Black Sea. If NATO's plans were realized with Ukraine and Georgia, it would have been practically eliminated. We would have only one Black Sea port, Novorossiysk. They've already done the same with the Baltic Sea. Let's not delude ourselves, this is NATO's internal sea. There is a small Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg on the gulf. They've shut the window that Peter the Great had opened into Europe -- well done, they've slammed it shut. Our goal is to liberate the Black Sea for ourselves. This is a theater of military operations. What's happening is an escalation in response to Ukraine's aggressive actions. Our people said "let's inflict damage upon NATO". "For example, let's cut their cables." Here you go, we're cutting them!!
Kazakov: How are we supposed to liberate the Baltic Sea? We can make the Baltic Sea our own only on land -- naval battles would not help us. We need part of the Baltic coast.
Kazakov: We need the Suwalki Gap from Kaliningrad to Leningrad.
I'm not sure that there's any really cohesive position here.