Finland has sentenced two sailors from a ship that damaged underwater cables on New Yearʼs Eve last year. One of them is Russian

A court in Helsinki has convicted two crew members of the Fitburg vessel for intentionally damaging underwater cables in the Gulf of Finland on December 31, 2025.

This is reported by the Finnish broadcaster Yle.

The shipʼs captain, Russian Andrei Maksimenko, received 3 years and 6 months in prison, and the boatswain, Azerbaijani citizen Vusal Majidov, received 2 years and 10 months. Both were ordered to be taken into custody immediately.

The court found that the Fitburg dragged the anchor along the seabed for about 130 kilometers for several hours. This damaged two underwater communication cables.

According to the investigation, the anchor was dropped after the ship left St. Petersburg — before it even left Russian territorial waters. The court found that the captain and boatswain knew about the dropped anchor, but did not stop the ship. The anchor was raised only after the Finnish authorities were warned.

The actions of the sailors posed a particularly serious threat to critical infrastructure. In addition to the imprisonment, both were ordered to pay for the repair of damaged cables and a gas pipeline, as well as for the investigation.

Both sailors deny the charges. The verdict can still be appealed.

• On the night of December 31, 2025, an underwater communication cable between Finland and Estonia broke in the Gulf of Finland. The Fitburg vessel, which was en route from St. Petersburg to Haifa, Israel, was suspected of involvement in the incident.
• Finnish authorities immediately detained the vessel for investigation, but allowed it to leave the countryʼs territorial waters on January 12. One of the crew members was then taken into custody, and several others were banned from leaving Finland.

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