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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Sweden detained a vessel suspected of damaging a subsea data cable connecting it with Latvia, the third such incident in the Baltic Sea in the past three months.

A subsea data cable between Latvia and Sweden was damaged early Sunday, sparking a criminal investigation, a third such incident in the Baltic Sea in the past three months.

As tensions rise, NATO has launched Baltic Sentry 2025 to enhance security and resilience. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has emphasized the need for greater coordination in protecting critical infrastructure from sabotage.

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.

RIGA, Latvia (AP) — Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa said Sunday that her government has reached out to Sweden and other Baltic Sea allies in NATO for assistance as it investigates the cause of damage to an underwater data cable running to Sweden.