Finnish authorities have seized a vessel suspected of damaging a critical underwater telecommunications cable linking its capital city Helsinki and Estonia’s capital, Tallinn.
The cable, operated by Finnish provider Elisa, was found damaged early Wednesday, prompting an urgent response from the Border Guard and a multi-agency operation involving police, defense forces, and international partners.
Newsweek has contacted Elisa and Finland’s Border Guard for comment.
Why It Matters
The incident comes amid concerns over the threat posed by Russia towards NATO allies, which include accusations that Moscow has been engaged in hybrid activities to test the alliance’s resolve, such as GPS jamming and flying drones into its airspace.
What To Know
Finnish police said in a statement the country’s Border Guard located a vessel suspected of being responsible for the damage to the cable within Estonia’s exclusive economic zone.
The Border Guard’s patrol vessel Turva and a helicopter found the vessel with its anchor chain “found to be lowered into the sea,” police said.
The vessel was instructed to stop and raise the anchor and move to a safe anchorage within Finnish territorial waters, the statement added.
The Helsinki Police Department is investigating alleged aggravated criminal damage, attempted aggravated criminal damage, and aggravated interference with telecommunications.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said the government is monitoring the situation. “Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary,” he added.
Stubb has previously warned of the imperial threat posed by Vladimir Putin to NATO’s eastern flank and the security challenges caused by Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Since 2023 there have been at least 11 suspected acts of sabotage to Baltic Sea infrastructure, many linked to Russia’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet of oil tankers. These included ruptures of the Balticconnector and of a power cable linking Finland and Estonia, which took months to repair.
What People Are Saying
Finland President Alexander Stubb, wrote on X: “Finland is prepared for security challenges of various kinds, and we respond to them as necessary.”
Thorsten Benner, co-founder and director, Global Public Policy Institute on X: “Swift robust action by Finnish authorities: stopped the vessel in the EEZ and then got it to move to Finnish territorial waters — trying to reinforce an emerging international norm about the right to stop vessels in EEZ if suspected of damaging critical infrastructure.”
What Happens Next
Antti Häkkänen, Finland’s defense minister, said on X that the country’s national leadership was “closely monitoring the matter” which is likely to cause anticipation over whether Moscow will be accused of involvement.