Finland filed felony expenses Monday towards the captain and crew of the suspected shadow fleet ship Eagle S, which is accused of attacking and damaging 5 telecom cables within the Gulf of Finland.
The fees, introduced towards the captain and two mates of the oil tanker — which Finnish authorities imagine is a part of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet — embody aggravated felony mischief and interference with communications, plus different indictments. The trio have been barred from leaving Finland because the investigation started.
Finnish prosecutors stated that the defendants deny the fees, claiming Helsinki lacks jurisdiction as a result of the broken cables lie outdoors its territorial waters.
The fees are the most recent growth in Finland’s investigation, which additionally led to the seizure of the Eagle S, prime suspect within the December 2024 incident that broken 4 submarine cables and disrupted one other within the Gulf of Finland.
The sabotage triggered requires extra sturdy motion towards Moscow’s shadow fleet, an armada of ageing, typically uninsured tankers that sanctioned nations like Russia depend on to bypass worldwide penalties.
NATO has additionally mobilized forces to guard the seabed and significant communications infrastructure amid a sample of comparable incidents within the Baltic Sea, together with the severing of an web cable between Finland and Germany in November 2024, and one other between Finland and Sweden in December 2024.
POLITICO has contacted the prosecutor’s workplace for remark.