The commander of a NATO task group deployed to protect key underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea has warned potential saboteurs that the alliance is watching.

       The region has seen a series of incidents in which power cables, telecom links and gas pipelines have been damaged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine - many of which have been blamed on Moscow.

       Speaking to the UK Defence Journal, Dutch Commodore Arjen Warnaar said: “We’re here. We’re going to see you doing this. Stop it. If you continue, we’ll catch you somewhere along the line.”

       The NATO warships are in the region as part of an operation called Baltic Sentry.

       Maritime patrol aircraft, used to detect, track and identify vessels, and new technologies, including a fleet of naval drones, are also involved.

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       Commodore Warnaar said: “If you have a lot of break-ins in your neighborhood, the police start to patrol.

       “If you want to call that deterrence, that’s what we’re doing here.

       “We’re here, we’re visible. If anything happens, we react. And what we hope for is that this will reduce the number of incidents that are going to happen.”

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       The launch of the NATO mission came weeks after a UK-led alliance activated its own operation following reports of damaged cables.

       The Joint Expeditionary Force mission, named Nordic Warden, uses Artificial Intelligence to better identify threats to protect pipes and cables across waters including the English Channel, North Sea, Kattegat and Baltic Sea.

       In January, the UK said a Russian spy ship had been seen “loitering” over critical undersea infrastructure in what was the second time it had entered British waters in recent months.

       The Defence Secretary revealed that weeks earlier he had ordered a Royal Navy attack submarine to surface close to the Yantir in a rare warning to the Russian ship.

       John Healey said the vessel then left British waters “without further loitering”.