Finnish court jails Russian captain and Azerbaijani boatswain over Baltic cable damage

A Finnish court has found two crew members of the vessel Fitburg guilty of damaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, and has sentenced both to prison. The two men are the ship's captain and its boatswain, a senior deck crew role. According to the Associated Press, the Helsinki District Court sentenced the captain, Russian national Andrei Maksimenko, to three years and six months in prison.

The boatswain, Vusal Majidov, is an Azerbaijani national. Yahoo News reported that he received a sentence of two years and 10 months. OC Media reported that the Azerbaijani sailor had been sentenced to three years.

The case concerns undersea telecoms cables, the lines laid on the seabed that carry phone and internet traffic between countries. Damage to such cables has become a recurring concern around the Baltic Sea, where several have been cut or damaged in recent years.

Earlier cases have also reached Finnish courts. In October 2025, a Finnish court dismissed a case against the crew of a Russian-linked tanker that had damaged Baltic Sea cables. On December 31, 2025, Finnish police seized a ship sailing from Russia on suspicion of sabotaging an undersea telecoms cable, and on January 12, 2026, police said they had lifted that seizure.