A senior Russian official has said that Moscow will counter any moves by Western military alliance NATO to dominate the Baltic Sea. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the Russian television channel Rossiya-24 on Friday that the Western alliance's decision to increase patrols around the Baltic was further proof of NATO's "desire to turn the Baltic Sea into a NATO lake.

Following a series of suspicious sabotage incidents, NATO countries have implemented patrols in the Baltic Sea to monitor the activities of Russian ships suspected of targeting undersea cables. This sea,

Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Europe have suggested that recent incidents damaging critical cables in the Baltic Sea were accidental, according to a Washington Post report. Western geostrategic self-deception has overly emphasized fears of escalation and cornering Russia.

The Baltic Sea operation in the region bordering Russia comes as European fears of sabotage mount after a string of disruptions to underwater cables.