The Helsinki District Court has delivered its verdict in the case of damage to underwater telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland on 31 December 2025. The captain of the cargo ship Fitburg, Russian citizen Andrei Maksimenko, was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. The ship’s boatswain, Azerbaijani citizen Vusal Majidov, received two years and ten months. Both were immediately taken into custody.
The court found the defendants guilty of aggravated criminal damage (aggravated sabotage). The sentences were harsher than the minimum sought by the prosecution, which had requested at least two and a half years for each. The separate charge of aggravated interference with telecommunications was dismissed by the court, as it was considered to be covered by the main offence.
According to the court, the vessel Fitburg (IMO 9250397, flying the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), which was sailing from St. Petersburg to Israel, dragged its anchor chain and part of the anchor along the seabed of the Gulf of Finland for several hours on the morning of 31 December 2025, covering a distance of about 130 km. This resulted in damage to two underwater telecommunications cables (including lines operated by Elisa between Helsinki and Tallinn). There was also a real risk of damage to seven other communication and power cables, as well as a gas pipeline.
The court established that the anchor had been raised when the ship left the port of St. Petersburg, that the locking mechanism was functioning properly, and that there were no navigational grounds for lowering it. In the court’s view, the captain and boatswain could not have been unaware that the anchor was down while the vessel was underway. The acts were classified as intentional. The court upheld its jurisdiction despite the defence’s argument that some of the damage occurred outside Finland’s territorial waters, stating that the offences were committed deliberately and that their effects were felt in Finland.
The convicted men were ordered to jointly compensate the victims (including cable and infrastructure operators) for repair and investigation costs — approximately €1.9 million. The captain was additionally ordered to pay about €85,000. The defendants denied their guilt. The verdict has not yet entered into force and can be appealed; their lawyers said the captain intends to file an appeal.
The ship was detained by Finnish authorities on New Year’s Eve and was later released; the crew members (citizens of Russia, Azerbaijan and other countries) remained under a travel ban until the verdict was delivered.
