The move marks yet another step in the systematic military encircling of Russia by the US-led military alliance, which continues to back the far-right Ukrainian regime in a war aimed at inflicting a strategic defeat on Moscow and subjugating its territory to semi-colonial status.

NATO launched a new Baltic Sea mission that will add military capabilities into the strategic waterway as concerns over suspected Russian sabotage and aggression in the area ratchet up.

Chancellor Scholz says Germany prepared to take responsibility and deploy naval forces to counter suspected Russian sabotage of underwater infrastructure - Anadolu Ajansı

A French patrol aircraft operating in international airspace over the Baltic Sea as part of a NATO observation mission was detected by the radar of the Russian S-400 air defence system. French Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu condemned this action,

NATO is stepping up its response over what it sees as an increasing threat to vital infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Its new mission "Baltic Sentry" aims to protect undersea cables from sabotage after a spate of alleged attacks with a Russia-linked so-called shadow fleet involved.