NATO is launching the Baltic Sentry mission to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, announced Secretary General Mark Rutte at the Baltic States summit in Helsinki. The new operation will increase NATO's military presence in the region, enabling faster responses to potential sabotage. According to NATO, patrols of the maritime area will be conducted by frigates, surveillance aircraft, and maritime drones. Security of underwater communications became a key topic of the summit, as several energy and telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea have been damaged in recent months.
Earlier, on January 12, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced that Sweden would send three warships and a reconnaissance plane to the Baltic Sea as part of NATO's mission to protect underwater cables. That same day, Swedish Defense Minister Carl-Oscar Bolin reported damage to the Nordbalt energy cable, connecting Sweden and Lithuania, indicating anchor dragging.
Investigations suggest that the responsibility for the cable damage may lie with the Chinese cargo ship Yi Peng 3, detained in November in Danish territorial waters. German media reported that the ship's captain may have been Russian Alexander Stechenchev, though he claims to have only been aboard as a pilot and left the ship immediately after leaving the port of Ust-Luga.
In December, Finnish authorities detained the tanker Eagle S, which had been transporting oil from Russia. Investigations suspect that it dragged its anchor along the seabed, damaging the Estlink 2 energy cable between Finland and Estonia, as well as four telecommunications cables. Lloyd's List reported, citing a source, that spy equipment for monitoring NATO military ships and aircraft was found on board the Eagle S.
The Baltic Sentry mission will address the growing threats to underwater infrastructure in the region. In March 2025, the EU is also planning to ban the transshipment of Russian liquefied natural gas in European ports, which could complicate logistics for Russia.
