Finnish court jails Russian captain for sabotaging Baltic Sea undersea cables

A Finnish court jailed the Russian captain and a senior crew member of a cargo ship on Thursday for sabotaging two undersea cables between Finland and Estonia, Euronews reported. The Helsinki District Court convicted both men on charges of aggravated criminal damage. The Russian captain received a sentence of three years and six months, while his deputy was sentenced to two years and ten months. [1]

The deputy crew member is an Azerbaijan national, Euronews reported. The two men were aboard the Fitburg, a 132-metre-long freighter that had departed from St. Petersburg in Russia and was travelling to Haifa in Israel. Authorities detained the vessel on New Year's Eve following suspicions over the damaged infrastructure. [1]

The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean enclosed by several nations, including Finland, Estonia, Russia, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Sweden. European intelligence agencies have previously raised concerns over Russian sabotage operations targeting infrastructure in nations across Europe. [5][9]