Latvia dispatches warship after damage to undersea cable

Latvia said it had dispatched a warship on Sunday after damage to a fibre optic cable to Sweden that may have been “due to external factors.”

The navy said it had identified a “suspect vessel,” the Michalis San, which was near the location of the incident along with two other ships.

The Michalis San was headed for Russia, according to several websites tracking naval traffic.

Nations around the Baltic Sea are scrambling to bolster their defences after the suspected sabotage of undersea cables in recent months.

After several telecom and power cables were severed, experts and politicians accused Russia of orchestrating a hybrid war against the West as the two sides square off over Ukraine.

NATO earlier this month announced it was launching a new monitoring mission in the Baltic Sea involving patrol ships and aircraft to deter any attempts to target undersea infrastructure in the region.

“We have a warship patrolling the Baltic…