Finland sentences Azerbaijani citizen in cable sabotage case

In Finland, a Russian captain and an Azerbaijani citizen have been convicted in the case of damage to underwater cables in the Baltic Sea.

As 1news.az reports, citing Euronews, the court found the captain of the cargo ship "Fitburg" and one of its crew members guilty of damaging two underwater cables laid between Finland and Estonia.

The Russian captain was sentenced to three years and six months in prison. The Azerbaijani citizen was given a sentence of two years and ten months of imprisonment. In addition, the court ordered both convicts to jointly pay compensation of about 1.9 million euros.

The incident occurred at the end of December 2025. On December 31, the 132-meter-long vessel "Fitburg" left St. Petersburg and headed for the Israeli port of Haifa. It was later detained by the Finnish authorities on suspicion of damaging telecommunications cables with its anchor in the waters of the Gulf of Finland.

In total, there were 14 crew members on board, among them citizens of Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan.

According to the publication, the ship's captain does not agree with the decision and intends to appeal the verdict.