NATO's standing maritime group will set off from its base in the German port of Kiel on Saturday for the Baltic states. The group had been concentrating on the North Sea, but recent tensions in the Baltic have resulted in a change of priorities.

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.

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.

NATO wants to send around ten ships to the Baltic Sea to protect cables. AI is also to play a role in monitoring the Russian shadow fleet.

In addition, a U.K.-led 10-member consortium of northern European nations called the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) has reactivated an AI-based system to track suspicious ships in these waters. The actions are a response to the suspected deliberate severing on Christmas Day of the Estlink 2 undersea power cable and four undersea communications cables between Finland and Estonia,

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.

Nations on the Baltic Sea, along with NATO, have stepped up security after a third incident of suspected sabotage to underwater infrastructure in a month.

Finnish police have reported finding the anchor responsible for severing an undersea internet cable connecting Finland to Estonia.