After a series of suspected undersea cable cuttings, NATO has launched a new surveillance and deterrence mission to protect critical infrastructure under the Baltic Sea.

The alliance mounted its first coordinated response to the suspected sabotage campaign against critical infrastructure, after another cable was severed in the Baltic Sea.

The Nordic country has opened an investigation into the damage, just weeks after NATO stepped up its military presence in the area following a series of similar incidents.

Sweden has opened a preliminary investigation into suspected aggravated “sabotage” and ordered the detention of a vessel in the Baltic Sea suspected of damaging an underwater fiber optic cable connecting Latvia and the Swedish island of Gotland earlier that day.

NATO officials are investigating damage discovered on Sunday to another undersea cable running across the Baltic Sea, this time a telecommunications link between NATO member states Sweden and Latvia.

NATO on Tuesday launched operation Baltic Sentry to deter further attempts to damage critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea. Secretary General Mark Rutte announced the operation on Tuesday in a joint press conference with Finland President Alexander Stubb and Estonia Prime Minister Kristen Michal at the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit held in Helsinki,

A senior Russian official has said that Moscow will counter any moves by Western military alliance NATO to dominate the Baltic Sea. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Russian television channel Rossiya-24 on Friday that the Western alliance's decision to increase patrols around the Baltic was further proof of NATO's "desire to turn the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.