A Helsinki court today began to judge the captain of a merchant navy ship and a crew member for allegedly damaging two telecommunications cables between Finland and Estonia.
© Lusa
08/09/2026
by
Lusa
Helsinki, 08 Aug 2026 – A Helsinki court today began to judge the captain of a merchant navy ship and a crew member for allegedly damaging two telecommunications cables between Finland and Estonia.
The Russian captain and crew member, a native of Azerbaijan, respond to charges of qualified damage and qualified obstruction to telecommunications by leaving the ship's anchor to be dragged, travelling 130 kilometres across the bottom of the sea in the Gulf of Finland, damaging two cables and trying to damage another eight.
The “Fitburg” freighter, registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and departing from Russia to Israel, was intercepted by the Finnish Coast Guard on 31 December 2025.
The Finnish Public Prosecutor has requested prison sentences of at least two years and six months for the two suspects.
According to the prosecutor, the incident in Estonia’s exclusive economic zone caused “immediate damage” and represented “a serious risk to the functioning of the telecommunications, electricity and gas networks in Finland”.
The defendants, who denied the facts, claimed that Finland is not competent to judge the case, since the cables would have been damaged outside Finnish territorial waters.
A representative of the Russian embassy was present at the courthouse to accompany the trial, reported to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
In 2025, three crew members of the “Eagle S” tanker, flying the Cook Islands, were tried for similar facts after having damaged five submarine cables in the Gulf of Finland on 25 December 2024.
The Helsinki District Court ruled that it was for the State in which the vessel was registered or for the countries of origin of the defendants to decide on the case.
However, the Finnish prosecutors appealed against the decision, claiming that Finland had jurisdiction due to the consequences of the incident for the country.
Tensions in the Baltic Sea intensified since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022.