Finland releases video of raid on vessel suspected of cutting Baltic Sea cables
Finnish authorities have released video footage of a special forces operation in which officers descend from helicopters onto a ship suspected of damaging communication cables between Estonia and Finland.
In the early hours of December 31, communication was lost in two cables between Estonia and Finland. According to current information, the damage is located in Estonia's exclusive economic zone, about 60 kilometers from the coast, near the edge of Finland's zone.
At the time the cables were damaged, the cargo ship Fitburg was positioned above them and later continued into Finland's exclusive economic zone. Finnish law enforcement launched a criminal investigation related to the Elisa cable and detained the ship within their jurisdiction.
Telecom company Elisa reported the cable malfunction at 4:53 a.m. on Wednesday, prompting the start of the operation. While the ship was initially in Estonian waters, the interception took place on the Finnish side. At 11:05 a.m., Finnish special forces descended onto the vessel from Navy and Border Guard helicopters.
Finland has released a video of the seizure of a Russian "shadow fleet" vessel
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 4, 2026
Fitburg was detained after an act of sabotage — the ship damaged an undersea communications cable linking Finland and Estonia.
The vessel was traveling from St. Petersburg to Haifa carrying… pic.twitter.com/KQMUO7bIxj
According to Finnish police, the suspect vessel is the Fitburg, sailing under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. At the time of its detention, the ship's anchor chain was in the water.
There were 14 crew members on board, citizens of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan.
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Editor: Valner Väino, Marcus Turovski
