Fitburg, 31 December 2025: an anchor dragged across the Gulf of Finland

On 30 December 2025 the general cargo ship Fitburg, flagged in St Vincent and the Grenadines, left St Petersburg for Haifa with Russian structural steel in its hold. Early on 31 December two telecom cables between Finland and Estonia were damaged. Finnish police and the Border Guard boarded the ship that morning. On 5 November 2026 the Helsinki District Court convicted the Russian captain and the Azerbaijani boatswain of deliberate aggravated sabotage: the anchor had been dragged along the seabed for about 130 km. The judgment is not final. The court did not find who, if anyone, directed the two men.

Aggravated sabotage by the captain and the boatswain, committed deliberately; Finnish jurisdiction — Helsinki District Court, 5 Nov 2026, not final — established Baltic seabed damage by dragged anchors, 2023–2025: five cases, one ruled an accident, one conviction — pattern, no common author established Hybrid threats to undersea infrastructure; NATO Baltic Sentry — statements by Finnish, Estonian and NATO officials — position

Russia said. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman · news briefing · 20 Nov 2024: “It is quite absurd to continue to blame Russia for everything without any reason.” — Accurate on attribution: no court has attributed a Baltic incident to Russia. Said of the November 2024 cable damage linked to the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3, more than a year before the Fitburg case. No court has attributed any Baltic seabed incident to Russia; the Fitburg judgment convicts two crew members and makes no finding on who, if anyone, directed them (Helsinki District Court, 5 Nov 2026).

Evidence held: Helsinki District Court, judgment of 5 Nov 2026 (R 706/2026/11841), unanimous; Helsinki Court of Appeal, 27 Aug 2026 (Eagle S, reported by ERR and Kaleva); Finnish Customs, 1 and 7 Jan 2026; Estonian Prosecutor's Office, 2 Jan 2026.