As they plied the gray, icy waters of the Baltic Sea west of Russia on Thursday, the crew of the Estonian minehunter EML Sakala kept a careful eye on any vessels slowing down suspiciously or suddenly changing course.

Finnish police said on Tuesday they had recovered a lost anchor from the seabed as part of an investigation of suspected sabotage against power and internet cables in the Baltic Sea.

General Mark Rutte says the military alliance will step up patrols in the Baltic Sea area as Finnish investigators work to establish whether a ship linked to Russia sabotaged undersea cables there this week.

Estonia said it would set aside €100 million ($103 million) for a new gas-fired power plant to boost energy security after repeated damage to subsea electricity connections.

As they plied the gray, icy waters of the Baltic Sea west of Russia on Thursday, the crew of the Estonian minehunter EML Sakala kept a careful eye on any vessels slowing down suspiciously or suddenly changing course.

NATO is increasing its surveillance operations in the Baltic Sea region with two ships deployed to the area following suspected sabotage of undersea cables between Finland and Estonia.

If the Russians see that we are present there, the likelihood of such sabotage acts immediately decreases," said one navy commander.

The German defence minister, Boris Pistorius, warned about the threats related to ongoing hybrid attacks by Russia in the Baltic Sea. "This is happening every day," he said during a visit to the naval air base in Nordholz,