As they plied the gray, icy waters of the Baltic Sea west of Russia on Thursday, the crew of the Estonian minehunter EML Sakala kept a careful eye on any vessels slowing down suspiciously or suddenly changing course.

Estonia said it would set aside €100 million ($103 million) for a new gas-fired power plant to boost energy security after repeated damage to subsea electricity connections.

As they plied the gray, icy waters of the Baltic Sea west of Russia on Thursday, the crew of the Estonian minehunter EML Sakala kept a careful eye on any vessels slowing down suspiciously or suddenly changing course.

If the Russians see that we are present there, the likelihood of such sabotage acts immediately decreases," said one navy commander.

NATO is sending two ships to monitor critical undersea infrastructure and Russia's "shadow fleet" in the Baltic Sea following recent undersea cable cuts, Finland's foreign minister said Friday. The Estlink 2 submarine cable,