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By Anne Kauranen, Essi Lehto and Andreas Rinke
HELSINKI (Reuters) -NATO countries will deploy frigates, patrol aircraft and naval drones in the Baltic Sea to help protect critical infrastructure and reserve the right to take action against ships suspected of posing a security threat, alliance members said on Tuesday.
The military and political alliance is taking the action, dubbed "Baltic Sentry", following a string of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Finnish police last month seized a tanker carrying Russian oil and said they suspected the vessel had damaged the Finnish-Estonian Estlink 2 power line and four telecoms cables by dragging its anchor across the seabed.
Finland's president Alexander Stubb said the damage on Dec. 25 was "definitely" linked to Russia.
"They're linked certainly in the sense that the vessel was part of the Russian shadow fleet. And we know that the cargo of it was very Russian. The link is definitely there," Stubb told Reuters, adding, however, that it was too early to draw further conclusions on the attribution.
While the region is on high alert for fear of sabotage, the Polish army denied on Tuesday a local media report that said a Russian "shadow fleet" vessel was seen circling near the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, stating that this "did not happen".
Finland's actions against the Eagle S tanker showed that vessels causing harm can be apprehended by law enforcement, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told a press conference following an eight-nation meeting in Helsinki on Tuesday.
"Potential threats to our infrastructure will have consequences, including possible boarding, impounding and arrest," Rutte said.
NATO members are looking at targeting Russia's shadow fleet in the area with sanctions as part of efforts to protect undersea critical installations, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said following the meeting.
"We will continue to take action against the Russian shadow fleet, including with sanctions that have already been introduced and others that may follow, including against specific ships and shipping companies that also pose a threat to the environment," Scholz told reporters.
Some 2,000 ships are crossing the Baltic Sea every day, making it difficult to monitor it all, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said.
"Let's face it, we can't ensure 100% protection, but if we are sending a bold signal then I think that such incidents are going to decrease or even to stop," Rinkevics told reporters.
Finland's President Alexander Stubb said further legal studies must be conducted to assess which measures can be taken against suspected rogue ships while preserving freedom of navigation rules.
(Reporting by Essi Lehto, Anne Kauranen and Andreas Rinke in Helsinki, and Louise Rasmussen and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen, editing by Terje Solsvik, William Maclean and Ros Russell)
