NATO to aid Finnish inquiry of Russian sabotage

Finnish authorities have seized control of the ship the Eagle S. Pic/PTI

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has said that the military alliance will step up patrols in the Baltic Sea region as Finnish investigators work to establish whether a ship linked to Russia sabotaged undersea cables there this week.

Mark Rutte. Pic/PTI

Finnish authorities seized control of the ship, the Eagle S, on Thursday as they tried to establish whether it had damaged a power cable linking Finland and Estonia and several data cables. It was the latest in a string of incidents involving the disruption of key infrastructure in the region.

In a post on X on early Saturday, Rutte said he had spoken to Finland's President Alexander Stubb "about the ongoing Finnish-led investigation into possible sabotage of undersea cables." Rutte said that "NATO will enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea." Finland, which shares a 1,340-km border with Russia, joined NATO in 2023, abandoning a decades-old policy of neutrality.

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