Through Captain Arunas’ binoculars, visibility is close to zero: "One kilometer, no more." The thick fog hanging over the Baltic Sea complicates the patrol for the 50 sailors aboard the Jotvingis. Their mission aboard the Lithuanian Navy command vessel: preventing hybrid threats as part of NATO's Baltic Sentinel operation.

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.

There has been a sharp rise in damage to undersea cables in the Baltic, with at least 11 incidents reported since October 2023.

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

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.

After a series of suspected undersea cable cuttings, NATO has launched a new surveillance and deterrence mission to protect critical infrastructure under the Baltic Sea.

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.

The attacks come as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania prepare to cut on February 8 their electricity links to Russia and Belarus.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda says that any peace settlement in Ukraine must involve Kyiv and come with more defense spending by regional countries to deter future Russian aggression.

Ukraine’s bombardment of energy infrastructure in western Russia is now a month old. Kyiv says its kamikaze aircraft are getting results. Moscow says its air defenses shoot everything down.

Norwegian police said on Friday they had seized a Norwegian-owned ship at Latvia's request over its suspected involvement in damage done to a Baltic Sea cable.