As they plied the gray, icy waters of the Baltic Sea west of Russia on Thursday, the crew of the Estonian minehunter EML Sakala kept a careful eye on any vessels slowing down suspiciously or suddenly changing course.

As they plied the gray, icy waters of the Baltic Sea west of Russia on Thursday, the crew of the Estonian minehunter EML Sakala kept a careful eye on any vessels slowing down suspiciously or suddenly changing course.

General Mark Rutte says the military alliance will step up patrols in the Baltic Sea area as Finnish investigators work to establish whether a ship linked to Russia sabotaged undersea cables there this week.

NATO is increasing its surveillance operations in the Baltic Sea region with two ships deployed to the area following suspected sabotage of undersea cables between Finland and Estonia.

If the Russians see that we are present there, the likelihood of such sabotage acts immediately decreases," said one navy commander.

The German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, warned about the threats related to ongoing hybrid attacks by Russia in the Baltic Sea. "This is happening every day," he said during a visit to the naval air base in Nordholz,

NATO's standing maritime group is to set off from its base in the German port of Kiel for the Baltic Sea to monitor critical underwater infrastructure following several suspected acts of sabotage, the group's commander said on Friday.