Baltic Sea: British warships to protect infrastructure from sabotage

The British Navy intends to deploy six warships to protect critical infrastructure such as underwater cables and pipelines from Russian sabotage. The monitored area is between the English Channel and Baldy Sea. From December, two warships, patrol boats and anti-mine vessels and a landing craft will be deployed. The British Ministry of Defense announced this. They are supported by a maritime reconnaissance and submarine-hunting aircraft.

British Defense Secretary Grant Shabbs spoke in a statement of “a strong signal of deterrence”. The mission was agreed as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force, a Northern European military alliance.

Britain is also sending a second warship to the Middle East. The HMS Diamond The defense ministry said plans are underway to strengthen the Royal Navy’s presence in the Gulf region and the Indian Ocean to prevent an escalation of the Gaza conflict. The warship is already in the area HMS Lancaster As well as three minesweepers and one auxiliary ship are active.

Concerns after Nord Stream destruction

Above all there are concerns about it Russia May damage critical infrastructure of NATO members. In September last year, the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea was destroyed. The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines carry Russian gas to Germany for nearly 1,200 kilometers across the Baltic Sea. The federal government halted the approval process to bring Nord Stream 2 into operation in February. The move is part of economic sanctions against Russia.

Some countries, including Germany, believe the damage was caused by sabotage. The Central Public Prosecutor’s Office has started an investigation. In early March it became known that the investigation had led to Ukraine. The case is still not resolved.