Finland seizes ship sailing from Russia after suspected cable sabotage
NBC News••world
Key Points:
- Finnish police seized the cargo vessel Fitburg, sailing from Russia to Israel, on suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable between Helsinki and Estonia, amid concerns of increased hybrid threats linked to Russia.
- The Fitburg's 14 crew members, from Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan, were detained, and the ship was found dragging its anchor in Finnish waters near the cable owned by Finnish telecom group Elisa.
- Estonia reported a simultaneous outage on a second telecoms cable connecting to Finland, owned by Sweden's Arelion, raising further alarm though investigations are ongoing to determine if the incidents were deliberate.
- NATO and European officials have heightened vigilance around the Baltic Sea, noting a rise in sabotage and hybrid threats since
