Shipping firms may need to pay a fee to use the Baltic Sea, one of the world's busiest shipping routes, in order to cover the high costs of protecting undersea cables, Estonia's defence minister said on Wednesday following a spate of breaches.

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

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

Estonia's defence minister on Wednesday said ships may have to pay a fee to use the Baltic Sea to cover costs of protecting undersea cables.

The Nordic country has opened an investigation into the damage, just weeks after NATO stepped up its military presence in the area following a series of similar incidents.

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.

Sweden has opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland earlier that day.

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.

The operation follows a string of incidents that have heightened fears of Russian sabotage and spying in the strategic region.

The mission, dubbed Baltic Sentry, follows worry over increased Russian military activity near key undersea communication cables.

Latvia is coordinating with NATO and the countries of the Baltic Sea region to clarify the circumstances, she said separately in a post on X. Latvia’s navy earlier on Sunday said it had ...