Xinhua
05 Jun 2026

HELSINKI, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Finnish police have completed a criminal investigation into the case in which two undersea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland were damaged at the end of 2025, Finnish public broadcaster Yle reported on Friday.

Four people are suspected of crimes in the case, and travel bans on three of them remain in force, the report said.

The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation investigated the case as suspected aggravated sabotage, attempted aggravated sabotage and aggravated interference with telecommunications.

According to police, Finnish authorities conducted close international cooperation with Estonia's National Criminal Police during the investigation. The case has now been transferred to prosecutors for consideration of charges, which will be handled by Finland's deputy prosecutor general.

On Dec. 31, 2025, Finnish telecom operator Elisa detected damage to its undersea telecommunications cable linking Helsinki and Tallinn. Finnish authorities later took control of the cargo vessel Fitburg, suspecting it of involvement in the cable damage.

Yle previously reported that the vessel, sailing under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, was en route from Russia to Israel.

The damage to Elisa's cable occurred in Estonia's exclusive economic zone. In addition to Elisa's cable, another undersea telecommunications cable between Finland and Estonia, which was owned by Swedish company Arelion, was also found to have malfunctioned on the same day.