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.

A spate of alleged sabotage operations against undersea cables in the Baltic Sea has raised the prospect of a dangerous 2025 in NATO's northern theater.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says the alliance is launching a new mission to protect undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region

Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Europe have suggested that recent incidents damaging critical cables in the Baltic Sea were accidental, according to a Washington Post report. Western geostrategic self-deception has overly emphasized fears of escalation and cornering Russia.

By Anne Kauranen, Essi Lehto and Andreas Rinke HELSINKI (Reuters) -NATO countries will deploy frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones in the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure and reserve the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat,

NATO's standing maritime group is to set off from its base in the German port of Kiel for the Baltic Sea to strengthen security and monitor critical underwater infrastructure following recent sabotage concerns.

A French Navy Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft was illuminated by the fire-control radar of a Russian long-range air defense system, while flying over the Baltic Sea earlier this week, according to France’s Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu.

The incidents contributed to mounting European fears of sabotage, as NATO officials accuse Russia of a growing “destabilization campaign” over their military support for Ukraine and sanctions against Moscow.

NATO announced on Tuesday that it will beef up its patrol of the Baltic Sea in the light of past infrastructure damage to cables on the sea floor.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced on Tuesday a new mission, dubbed Baltic Sentry, to safeguard undersea cables in the Baltic Sea region.

The strategy follows a series of suspected sabotage attacks on telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea in recent months carried out by a fleet of tankers and vessels linked to Russia.