An emerging consensus among U.S. and European security services holds that accidents were the cause of damage to Baltic seabed energy and communications lines.

NATO and its eight Baltic Sea allies say they are stepping up efforts to deter 'any attempts at sabotage' in the wake of a series of incidents that have damaged key undersea power and telecommunications cables.

The second ship, the 75,100-dwt Yi Peng 3 (built 2001), was intercepted in November and held off Denmark for about a month, after which its owner ordered the ship to sail again “for consideration of the crew’s physical and mental health”, as the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement at the time.

Increased Russian military activity in the Baltic Sea has resulted in global calls for Denmark and other nations to inspect Moscow's oil tankers.

A spate of alleged sabotage operations against undersea cables in the Baltic Sea has raised the prospect of a dangerous 2025 in NATO's northern theater.

Russia is believed to be behind dozens of hybrid attacks, like arson or sabotage, on NATO soil since the Ukraine war started.

Paris: Moscow’s tensions with NATO country France have flared up amid the Russia-Ukraine war. The French Navy’s patrol aircraft Atlantique 2 was flying over the Baltic Sea. Meanwhile, the Russian air defense system S-400 took an aim at it. The S-400 ‘locked’ this French aircraft with its radar.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday Ukraine and Britain "had no room" for cooperation in the Sea of Azov, commenting on a new 100-year partnership agreement between Kyiv and London the two countries' leaders announced on Thursday.

Russia alleges baseless accusations from NATO regarding sabotage of undersea cables, aiming to curb Russian oil exports. Finnish authorities seized a tanker suspected of damaging infrastructure. Germany's Chancellor hinted at potential sanctions on Russia's clandestine Navy.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday accused NATO and the West of making "evidence-free" allegations against Moscow over ships purportedly involved in sabotaging undersea cables in an effort to curb sea-borne Russian oil exports.

The Baltic Sea operation in the region bordering Russia comes as European fears of sabotage mount after a string of disruptions to underwater cables.

Sibur, Russia's largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) producer, cut exports through the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga, its main exporting gateway, by 37% to 570,000 metric tons last year, according to traders and LSEG ship-tracking data.