The court in Finland has allowed the detention of a tanker of Russia's shadow fleet suspected of damaging cables in the Baltic Sea. The detained vessel is suspected of involvement in the incident with an energy cable and four communication cables,

The Baltic Sea has seen multiple attacks on energy and communications infrastructure since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. These have often been linked to hybrid warfare tactics

General Mark Rutte says the military alliance will step up patrols in the Baltic Sea area as Finnish investigators work to establish whether a ship linked to Russia sabotaged undersea cables there this week.

A subsea power link and four data cables were damaged December 25, after Eagle S sailed over them on the Gulf of Finland.

Finnish police said on Sunday they had found tracks that drag on for dozens of kilometres along the bottom of the Baltic Sea where a tanker carrying Russian oil is suspected of breaking a power line and four telecoms cables with its anchor.

Finland says a ship affiliated with Russia's "shadow fleet" is linked to a 60-mile-long anchor drag mark on the seafloor. A power cable in the Baltic Sea was severed last week.

This photo provided by Rajavartiosto (Finnish Border Guard) on Thursday, 26 Dec 2024, shows the oil tanker Eagle S, background, and the Finnish Border Guard ship Turva.