Finnish police have seized and searched a vessel suspected of damaging undersea telecoms cables in the Baltic Sea.
The cable was damaged in the Gulf of Finland between the capital cities of Helsinki and Tallin in Estonia early this morning.
The ship had been dragging its anchor for hours along the sea bed when it was discovered by police in Finland’s exclusive economic zone.
Its crew of 14 – hailing from Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan – was detained by Finnish police, local media said.
The ship, named the Fitburg, was flagged in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. It had been travelling from Russia to Israel.
Experts and political leaders have viewed the incidents as part of a ‘hybrid war’ carried out by Russia against the West – sabotaging vital infrastructure.
It has been flagged as an issue increasingly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Helsinki police have opened an investigation into ‘aggravated disruption of telecommunications’ and ‘aggravated sabotage and attempted aggravated sabotage’.
The damage happened in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone, police said.
The cable, owned by Finnish telecommunications company Elisa, is critical to Finland’s underwater infrastructure, providing power and communication for thousands of Europeans.
Finnish National Police Commissioner Ilkka Koskimäki told local media that investigators are not speculating on whether a state-level actor was behind the damage.
‘Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary,’ Finnish President Alexander Stubb wrote on social platform X.
Earlier this year, a captain and and two senior officers of a Russia-linked vessel were charged after their vessel damaged undersea cables between Finland and Estonia on Christmas Day 2024.
Charges of aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications were filed against the captain and first and second officers of the Eagle S oil tanker, the Finnish deputy prosecutor general said in August.
Their names were not made public. The statement said they denied the allegations.
The Kremlin also previously denied allegations that they were involved in the damaging of the cables.
Hellbound and Down 