Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] NATO warships have begun patrolling the Baltic Sea as part of the Baltic Sentinel mission, the stated goal of which is to “increase NATO’s awareness” of the situation in the Baltic, ERR reported on Saturday, January 18.
Representatives of the navies of Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are taking part in the mission, the authors noted.
"NATO warships have begun patrolling the Baltic Sea as part of Operation Baltic Sentinel. Some of the ships have anchored in Tallinn's Mine Harbor," the statement said.
The mission also includes a helicopter and a sonar vessel, the authors noted. If necessary, the group "may use force," the report also said.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, on January 13 it became known that an underwater cable in the Baltic Sea connecting Sweden, Lithuania, Germany and Finland had been damaged. Swedish authorities linked the emergency to the actions of a Chinese vessel anchored in the area. A version was put forward that the ship's captain had been recruited by Russian special services.
Earlier, three more similar incidents occurred in the Baltic. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that he would urgently consider the issue of deploying a military patrol mission in the Baltic Sea to protect infrastructure facilities. Two NATO ships entered the Gulf of Finland on January 15. It was assumed that a total of 10 ships would be sent.
NATO countries have used the incident involving damage to submarine cables in the Baltic Sea as a pretext to increase their military presence in the strategic region and to combat Russian oil exports, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
The press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov noted that accusations of Russia's involvement in damaging cables in the Baltic Sea are groundless and absurd. He emphasized that such statements are ridiculous against the backdrop of the lack of reaction to Ukraine's subversive activities in this water area.
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