In brief

• A Helsinki court sentenced the Russian captain of the Fitburg to three years and six months in prison and a crew member to two years and ten months.
• The ship dragged its anchor about 130 kilometres, damaging two telecom cables between Helsinki and Tallinn.
• The men must jointly pay about 1.9 million euros in damages, and the verdict can be appealed.

Prison terms handed down in Helsinki

The Helsinki District Court found Captain Andrei Maksimenko guilty of intentional destruction of property with aggravating circumstances and sentenced him to three years and six months in prison. A boatswain on the vessel, Vusal Majidov, a citizen of Azerbaijan, received two years and ten months. Both men were taken into custody directly in the courtroom (Soome kohus mõistis sidekaableid lõhkunud laeva kapteni vangi – ERR) (У Фінляндії суд ув'язнив російського капітана судна Fitburg за пошкодження підводних кабелів – Українська правда) (Фінляндія ув'язнила російського капітана судна Fitburg у справі про пошкодження кабелів – Європейська правда). The sentences are harsher than the prosecution had requested, which was at least two and a half years. The court rejected a separate charge of gross interference with communications, treating it as part of the aggravated property offence.

What the court found

The court concluded that the ship dragged its anchor and chain along the seabed for roughly 130 kilometres over several hours. The action severed two undersea telecommunications cables operated by Elisa between Helsinki and Tallinn, and it created a real risk of damage to seven further communication and power cables and a gas pipeline (Finnland: Gericht verurteilt russischen Kapitän wegen Kabelsabotage in Ostsee – ZEIT ONLINE). The incident took place in Estonia's exclusive economic zone, and the investigation was coordinated with Estonian authorities (Przez 130 km ciągnęli kotwicę po dnie Bałtyku. Uszkodzone kable i wyrok – RMF24). Both defendants denied guilt.

Compensation and costs

The convicted men must jointly pay about 1.9 million euros in damages to cover repair costs for the cables and pipeline. The captain is also ordered to pay roughly 85,000 euros in investigation costs.

Background: seizure of the ship

Finnish authorities seized the Fitburg on 31 December 2025 in the Gulf of Finland. The vessel was sailing from St Petersburg to the Israeli port of Haifa with a cargo of Russian steel, flying the flag of St Vincent and the Grenadines. All 14 crew members were detained along with the ship. Finland had earlier tightened protection of underwater infrastructure after a series of cable and pipeline incidents in the Baltic Sea since 2022, and in September it held an exercise rehearsing boarding and inspection of a vessel.

Appeal

The verdict is not final. The captain intends to appeal, according to his lawyers, while the boatswain's lawyers said he has not yet decided whether to do so.