Following a series of incidents, the NATO is now increasing its presence in the Baltic Sea. To protect critical infrastructure, the alliance has already launched launched the “Baltic Sentry” operation and will and will very quickly add further capacities to ensure control of the Baltic Sea region.

The most recent incident dates back to last week. In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, a French Atlantique 2 (ATL2) maritime patrol aircraft was first jammed in international airspace and then targeted by a Russian S400 air defense system. French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu described the aggressive action as an “intimidating measure by Russia” and as “unacceptable”.

Just two days earlier, NATO had announced the aforementioned “Baltic Sentry” operation to protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte made it clear that ships that pose a threat to the critical infrastructure (KRITIS) of NATO countries must also expect boarding and arrest under international maritime law.

The spectrum of surveillance capabilities provided for the operation ranges from warships and reconnaissance aircraft to satellites and drones in the air (UAV), on the water (USV) and unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV).

French Admiral Pierre Vandier, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Transformation Command (SACT), announced that “some new USVs will be deployed at the speed of light”. Until now, USVs have only been available to the western allies in individual units and more for testing purposes. Now things should move quickly. “I expect that we will provide UAVs to the Allied Naval Command (MARCOM) in less than a few weeks and then start using these ships to monitor critical areas around the clock.” We are talking about at least 20 UAV units of as yet unknown types.

NATO's Operation Baltic Sentry is a multinational operation to protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea - ©Archive
NATO’s Operation Baltic Sentry is a multinational operation to protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

.

Further incidents in the Baltic Sea region

On September 26, 2022, four explosions destroyed both Nord Stream 1 gas pipelines and one Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The explosions took place in international waters south-east of the Danish island of Bornholm.

After the attack, the relevant Swedish, Danish and German investigating authorities began investigating serious sabotage. German authorities have also been investigating possible Ukrainian perpetrators, among others, since the end of 2022.

The investigative US journalist Seymour Hersh named American-Norwegian authorship in an article. Russia also referred to this at the United Nations. In April 2023, it then became known that Russian ships with equipment for underwater operations had been in the immediate vicinity of the subsequent explosions. As confirmed by the Danish Defense Command, a Danish patrol boat took 26 photos of “SS-750”, a Kashtan-class salvage ship and a Priz-class AS-26 deep-sea rescue vessel.

©Military News

On October 8, 2023, the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was damaged. The Chinese government subsequently announced that the cargo ship “NewNew Polar Bear” had accidentally destroyed the Baltic gas pipeline.

On April 25 and 26, 2024 Finnair flights from Helsinki to Tartu could not land safely due to a malfunction of their GPS system, so the planes had to return to Finland. Finair temporarily suspended flights to Tartu.

https://militaeraktuell.at/mig-21-in-europa-in-kroatien-ging-aera-zu-ende/ Am 7. Oktober 2024 wurde das EE-S1-Telekommunikations-Seekabel zwischen Schweden und Estland beschädigt. Zum Zeitpunkt der Störung befanden sich das russische Frachtschiff „Sevmorput” und auch wieder das unter Hongkong-Flagge fahrende Frachtschiff „NewNew Polar Bear” im Bereich der Schadenstelle. Der Eigentümer von Sevmorput, Rosatom, bestritt eine Beteiligung.

On November 17, 2024, the BCS East-West Interlink submarine telecommunications cable and the C-Lion1submarine telecommunications cable were allegedly severed by the cargo ship “Yi Peng 3” off the southern coast of Sweden. The “Yi Peng 3” was subsequently detained by the Danish Navy in international waters in the Kattegat for more than a month while investigations were carried out.

Tanker
The tanker “Eagle S” was boarded by Finnish special forces following the damage to the EstLink 2 power cable and has since been detained in Finnish waters while law enforcement authorities conduct their investigation. Nine members of the crew have been banned from leaving the country.

On December 25, 2024 , the EstLink 2 undersea HVDC power cable between Finland and Estonia and several parallel telecommunications lines, including the C-Lion1 cable, were destroyed. At the time of the incident, the Cook Islands-flagged crude oil tanker “Eagle S” sailed over the cable at a speed of 9 knots, dragging one of its anchors across the bottom. The tanker was subsequently boarded by the Finnish special border protection unit “Erikoisrajajääkärikomppania”.

Transmitters and receivers were found on the ship, which are unusual for a merchant ship and were apparently used to monitor NATO’s naval and aviation activities. The European Union assumes that the Eagle S is part of the so-called Russian shadow fleet, which Russia uses to circumvent the oil embargo.

As the aviation magazine Austrian Wings reportedon December 30, 2024 , the Ryanair/Lauda flight FR 748 coming from Riga had to abort its approach to Vienna-Schwechat twice. The pilots then decided to fly to an alternative airport and finally landed in Brno. The cause was apparently an unrecoverable problem with the navigation system due to GPS malfunctions along the flight route in Poland.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR