The trial began at the Helsinki district court on Monday morning and sees the first and second officers of the Eagle S, a Cook Islands-flagged tanker, stand charged with offenses, including aggravated sabotage and aggravated telecommunications interference, alongside the ship's Georgian captain, Davit Vadatchkoria.

The court also has to determine if it actually has jurisdiction in this case, since the defense is arguing that since the offenses took place in international waters, they lie outside the remit of the Finnish authorities.

Prosecutor Heidi Nummela told the court on Monday morning that the Eagle S sailed for a distance of 90 kilometres with its anchor dragging along the seabed, and even appeared to slow down as it passed over the subsea cables, with the damage not only putting the cables out of commission for months, but also costing Finnish telecommunications firm Elisa and the state-owned digital security company Cinia at least €60 million to repair — compensation claims will also form part of the hearing.

Yle reported that the Eagle S ticks many of the Russian shadow fleet boxes, including being an older vessel, around 20 years old, in poor condition – to the extent of proving a security and environmental risk, and of unclear ownership: Lloyd's List has reported the tanker is the sole vessel in the UAE-based Caravella company's fleet, and is sailing under the flag of the Cook Islands.

Finnish authorities launched a special ops-style raid on the evening of Christmas Day, to board the Eagle S once the damage had become apparent. The damage to EstLink 2 put the cable out of action until June. The incident was one of several to have hit undersea infrastructure due to suspected trailing anchors from large vessels in the Gulf of Finland and the wider Baltic.

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