And again it happened - another telecoms cable between Helsinki and Tallinn in the Gulf of Finland damaged - another Russian-led ship dragging anchor!
The Finnish Border Guard seized the "Fitburg", registered under the flag of the Caribbean state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and sailing from Saint Petersburg to Haifa in Israel, on 31 December 2025, escorted it to the nearby port of Kantvik under high security precautions and arrested the 14 crew members from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. 
Hybrid war continues unabated
Apparently another hybrid attack from the east on western infrastructure: "There is reason to believe that the anchor and anchor chain of the ship 'Fitburg' were dragged along the seabed for at least several dozen kilometres before they reached the site of the damage," explained the Finnish police. Together with international authorities, they are currently investigating "serious damage to property, attempted serious damage to property and serious interference with telecommunications".
The Finnish Border Guard has released a video showing specialised police forces boarding the ship on New Year's Eve after it was identified as the suspected perpetrator of the damage to the Elisa cable that occurred at 04:53. An NH-90 of the Finnish Defence Forces was also involved in the operation with three helicopters. The Finnish authorities have significantly expanded their coordinated prevention and response capabilities in recent months. The response was convincing - but prevention can still be improved. The darkness of early New Year's Eve morning was a devilishly chosen date for an act of sabotage!
Everything in order
Following the search of the "Fitburg", two Finnish authorities have now cleared the crew of the charge of evading sanctions. On the one hand, Traficom (Finnish Transport and Communications Agency) found only ten minor technical violations, which could not have been dangerous for the ship or the crew - the defects are currently being rectified. The loaded steel, which is subject to Russian sanctions, was also not considered by customs to be grounds for further detention because the ship was in international waters and had entered territorial waters for inspection of its own free will - in other words, it had not deliberately brought sanctioned substances into Finland. However, the investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) into the act of navigational sabotage will take weeks. Finland's Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and his security cabinet have been informed of the situation and are being kept up to date by the authorities.
Finnish Border Guard (Rajavartiolaitos/Gränsbevakningsväsendet), ajs
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