Crew on board an oil tanker accused of sabotaging undersea power and communications cables in the Baltic Sea were poised to cut other cables and pipelines when Finnish authorities boarded the vessel last month,

NATO is launching a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region after a string of incidents that have heightened concerns about possible Russian activities, the alliance’s leader said.

On Wednesday, the NATO Naval Command announced that two ships would be deployed to the Gulf of Finland as part of the new Baltic Sentry mission, which was established at Tuesday's meeting of Alliance representatives in Helsinki.

NATO countries will deploy frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones in the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure and reserve the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat,

NATO announced on Tuesday that it will beef up its patrol of the Baltic Sea in the light of past infrastructure damage to cables on the sea floor.

NATO launched a new Baltic Sea mission that will add military capabilities into the strategic waterway as concerns over suspected Russian sabotage and aggression in the area ratchet up.

The Swedish military will also contribute one of its ASC 890 surveillance aircraft, made by Saab, and the country’s coast guard will deploy four ships.

The incidents contributed to mounting European fears of sabotage, as NATO officials accuse Russia of a growing “destabilization campaign” over their military support for Ukraine and sanctions against Moscow.

NATO has launched a mission to safeguard critical underwater infrastructure on the Baltic Sea floor. This operation follows previous incidents involving interruptions to submarine cables, likely planned by Russia.

NATO has launched a mission to safeguard critical underwater infrastructure on the Baltic Sea floor. The operation follows previous incidents of interruptions to submarine cables, most likely planned by Russia.