Finnish police detained a cargo vessel sailing from Russia on suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable running from Helsinki to Estonia across the Gulf of Finland.
The incident adds to a growing list of disruptions to critical underwater infrastructure in the region. Over recent years, multiple power lines, gas pipelines and data cables beneath the Baltic have been severed or impaired - incidents that Western officials and analysts increasingly characterize as elements of a Russian-led “hybrid war.”
The ship at the center of the investigation, the Fitburg, was travelling from St Petersburg to Israel when it was intercepted, Finland’s Border Guard said during a press briefing in Helsinki on Wednesday.
“At the moment we suspect aggravated disruption of telecommunications and also aggravated sabotage and attempted aggravated sabotage,” Helsinki Chief of Police Jari Liukku told journalists.
All 14 crew members were taken into custody following damage to a cable owned by Finnish telecoms group Elisa.
The operator said in a statement that the damage had “not affected the functionality of Elisa’s services in any way.”
Investigators said the crew included nationals of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. The ship sailed under the flag of St Vincent and Grenadines.
Eight NATO states border the Baltic Sea, alongside Russia, and the shallow seabed has become a focal point for concerns over vulnerability to interference. In response, NATO has expanded patrols using frigates, aircraft and naval drones.
“We remain in contact with the Finnish authorities, through exchange of information, via the NATO shipping center located at our Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, UK,” an official from the military alliance said.
Finnish police and border officials said the ship had been dragging its anchor before being instructed to move into Finnish territorial waters.
President Alexander Stubb said the country was ready to confront emerging threats. “Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary,” he wrote on X.
Estonia separately reported an outage affecting a second telecommunications link to Finland on Wednesday. President Alar Karis said investigators were assessing the cause, adding that “hopefully it was not a deliberate act, but the investigation will clarify.”
NATO has repeatedly warned that undersea cables form a critical part of global infrastructure and are increasingly exposed to sabotage or hybrid tactics that could disrupt both civilian life and military operations.
In December 2024, Finnish police announced that they would investigate whether a Russian vessel was responsible for damage to an electricity cable between Finland and Estonia.
A study published in July 2025 by the University of Washington found that 10 subsea cables in the Baltic Sea had been cut since 2022.
“A majority of these incidents have raised suspicions of sabotage by state actors, specifically Russia and China, who have been particularly active in the region,” the report said.