After the Nord Stream explosions, the EU plans to increase maritime patrols.

(RT) ⸻ EU officials are considering increased naval patrols to defend assets against Russia after the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which rendered multibillion-dollar projects inoperable. Virginijus Sinkevicius, the EU's environment and oceans commissioner, has called for increased monitoring and protecting of critical maritime infrastructure and ships from physical and cyber threats. A plan to ramp up joint NATO patrols and naval military exercises will be outlined in an update of the EU's maritime strategy, which will be published on Friday. Moscow was denied access to the probes by EU nations and is seeking an impartial, UN-mandated investigation. Senior Russian diplomats have argued that if the Nord Stream sabotage goes unpunished, it would create a dangerous precedent in international relations. US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh reported that the sabotage was a clandestine US-Norwegian operation, ordered by American President Joe Biden. This week, publications in US and German media outlets claimed that a "pro-Ukrainian group" funded by a Ukrainian businessman may have been behind the sabotage. Western nations previously insisted that only a state actor would have the capability and expertise to pull off such a complex operation. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it is "shameful" for journalists to attempt to pin the attack "on some Ukrainian oligarch." The Kremlin mocked the latest claims surrounding the sabotage, suggesting that they implied that fictional villain 'Dr. Evil' was somehow the mastermind.