Swedish prosecutors announced Sunday night that they have 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.

An undersea data cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged early on January 26, the latest in a series of similar incidents in the Baltic Sea in which critical seabed energy and communications lines are believed to have been severed by ships traveling to or from Russian ports.

Sweden is investigating damage to a data cable linked to Latvia, the latest breach in the Baltic Sea region where European authorities are on high alert.

Multiple undersea cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea have been damaged in recent months, raising suspicions of sabotage.

NATO is deploying eyes in the sky and on the Baltic Sea to protect cables and pipelines that stitch together the nine countries with shores on Baltic waters

Estonia's defence minister on Wednesday said ships may have to pay a fee to use the Baltic Sea to cover costs of protecting undersea cables.

Nato countries have stepped up patrols to protect critical underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, which is bordered by eight countries, and other waters. A Royal Navy submarine was ordered to surface last November close to a suspected Russian spy ship which was loitering over undersea infrastructure in UK waters.

The attacks come as Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania prepare to cut on February 8 their electricity links to Russia and Belarus.

RIGA - Latvia has signed a contract with the Spanish company GDELS-Santa Barbara Sistemas for the delivery of 42 ASCOD infantry fighting vehicles to the National Armed Forces (NBS) at a cost of EUR 373 million, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) informed LETA.

The Central Criminal Police has not yet found evidence that Russian special services are behind severing the Finland-Estonia underwater cable. However, the incident prompted NATO to launch the Baltic Sentry mission.

The Central Criminal Police has not yet found evidence that Russian special services are behind severing the Finland-Estonia underwater cable. However, the incident prompted NATO to launch the Baltic Sentry mission.