Nato ships on the lookout in Baltic Sea

Under steel-grey skies, the Dutch minehunting vessel Schiedam cuts through the waters dividing Denmark and Sweden, part of Nato's Baltic Sentry mission to protect underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

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Copenhagen - Under steel-grey skies, the Dutch minehunting vessel Schiedam cuts through the waters dividing Denmark and Sweden, part of Nato's Baltic Sentry mission to protect underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.

Nato hastily pulled together the patrol mission last month after several electricity and telecommunications cables were severed on the Baltic Sea floor in recent months.

Those incidents came amid soaring tensions between the West and Russia over Moscow's war in Ukraine, exacerbated by Finland and Sweden subsequently joining Nato.

Many European officials and experts suspect the cable cuts are acts of sabotage, part of a Russian "hybrid war" against Ukraine's Western allies.