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

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.

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.

London (CNN) — On Sunday, an undersea cable ferrying data between Sweden and Latvia was damaged, most likely as a result of an external force, Latvia said.

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.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned of the threat posed by hybrid warfare from Moscow after an underwater Baltic Sea cable was severed. Scholz was speaking as he met Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

Targeting French patrol craft that were in international waters seems like an aggressive action. But Moscow would likely claim this was self-defense.

The Central Criminal Police has not yet found evidence that Russian special services are behind severing the Finland-Estonia underwater cable. However, the incident prompted NATO to launch the Baltic Sentry mission.

The commander of the German military's newly established Operational Command, Alexander Sollfrank, warned in an interview on Thursday of increasing Russian attempts to disrupt life in Germany. There have been "intrusion attempts" into facilities of the Bundeswehr,

Germany is expanding its natural gas import options to replace Russian supply, a drive intensified by the latest suspension of Russian flows via Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump targeting Europe with liquefied natural gas exports.

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