Multiple undersea cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea have been damaged in recent months, raising suspicions of sabotage.

An undersea data cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged early on January 26, the latest in a series of similar incidents in the Baltic Sea in which critical seabed energy and communications lines are believed to have been severed by ships traveling to or from Russian ports.

Ships face new tax to sail through Baltic Sea to protect underwater cables from Putin sabotage - Underwater sensors may also be installed to detect attempts to damage cables and pipelines

Russia is "the main actor" in hybrid attacks on the alliance, said a senior NATO official following a spate of incidents.

Numerous incidents of suspected Russian-linked sabotage of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea has seen tensions rise among nearby countries, and an increased Nato presence.

NATO is ratcheting up its guard against suspected attempts to sabotage underwater energy and data cables and pipelines that crisscross the Baltic Sea.

NATO is deploying eyes in the sky and on the Baltic Sea to protect cables and pipelines that stitch together the nine countries with shores on Baltic waters.

Sweden is investigating damage to a data cable linked to Latvia, the latest breach in the Baltic Sea region where European authorities are on high alert.

A senior Russian official has said that Moscow will counter any moves by Western military alliance NATO to dominate the Baltic Sea. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Russian television channel Rossiya-24 on Friday that the Western alliance's decision to increase patrols around the Baltic was further proof of NATO's "desire to turn the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.

Russia has condemned the Western alliance for ramping up its naval presence in the so-called 'NATO lake' after alleged sabotage by Moscow-linked vessels.

Incidents damaging Europe’s undersea networks have become more frequent since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, raising suspicions they are the result of sabotage.

Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Europe have suggested that recent incidents damaging critical cables in the Baltic Sea were accidental, according to a Washington Post report. Western geostrategic self-deception has overly emphasized fears of escalation and cornering Russia.