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a cargo ship from Russia Seized by Finnish police on suspicion of sabotaging undersea telecommunications cables running from Helsinki across the Gulf of Estonia. Finland.
The “Fitterberg” was traveling from the port of St. Petersburg, Russia Israel When the incident occurred, FinlandBorder Guard authorities said Wednesday.
“At this time, we suspect a severe telecommunications outage, serious vandalism and attempted serious vandalism,” Helsinki police chief Jari Liukku said.
The area has been hit by a series of attacks Similar incidents in recent years.
Europe is increasingly worried about what officials see as an increase in hybrid threats Russia since it started the war UkraineMoscow denied this.
At the beginning of this month, NATOSupreme Military Commander Alexus Grynkewich, U.S. Air Force General NATOSupreme Allied Commander Europe said must be prepared to respond Respond to such threats to defend their territory.
Hybrid threats refer to military and non-military tactics designed to undermine an adversary’s security. These include cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns, disruption of critical infrastructure and the use of drones or irregular armed groups.
Baltic countries on high alert
Investigators said the Fitburg’s 14 crew members were from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan and were all detained by Finnish police. The ship sailed under the flag of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The ship’s owner is Fitburg Shipping Company Ltd and its manager is Albros Shipping and Trading Ltd, according to London Stock Exchange Group. Reuters could not reach either company by phone.
Eight NATO countries share borders with the country Baltic Seaalso borders Russia. They have been on high alert since the Russian invasion following a series of disruptions to power cables, telecommunications lines and gas pipelines running along the relatively shallow seafloor Ukraine 2022.
In recent years, NATO has increased its presence in the Baltic Sea with frigates, aircraft and naval drones.
“We are in contact with the Finnish authorities through the exchange of information through the NATO Shipping Center at Allied Maritime Command in Northwood, England,” an official from the military alliance said.
The police and the Finnish Border Guard said that the “Fitterborg” was anchored in the sea and sailed towards Finnish territorial waters. The cable belongs to Finnish telecommunications group Elisa.
Estonian president says: ‘Hope it wasn’t intentional’
Estonia’s justice ministry said a second telecommunications cable connecting the country to Finland also failed on Wednesday. It is unclear whether the cable, belonging to Sweden’s Arelion, runs parallel to Elisa’s.
An Arelion spokesman confirmed the company experienced an outage.
Estonian President Alar Karis said on the
EU Technical Commissioner Henna Virkkunen wrote on X that the European Commission is paying close attention to the incident.
In December 2024, Finland boarded the Russian-linked oil tanker Eagle S, which investigators said damaged a power cable and several telecommunications lines in Finland. Baltic Sea By dragging its anchor point.
In October, a Finnish court dismissed criminal proceedings against the Eagle S captain and other crew members, ruling that prosecutors had failed to prove intent and that any alleged negligence must be pursued by the ship’s flag state or the crew’s home country.