Finland seizes Russia-linked tanker suspected of cutting vital undersea cables

Finland has seized an oil tanker suspected of having severed undersea power and internet cables, with Finnish authorities saying the vessel may have been part of Russia's "shadow fleet" of ships aimed at skirting Western sanctions.

Finland has seized an oil tanker suspected of having severed undersea power and internet cables, with Finnish authorities saying the vessel may have been part of Russia's "shadow fleet" of ships aimed at skirting Western sanctions.

The incident comes at a time when the region is already on high alert over the war in Ukraine, with NATO vowing to enhance its military presence in the Baltic Sea following Wednesday's cable-cutting incident.

The Finnish government said in a statement that the Estlink 2 power cable between Finland and Estonia and several telecommunications cables had been severed. The country's energy and telecommunications services nonetheless remained stable, it added.

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur said that the country would be deploying its navy to the area of the Estlink 1 cable in a bid to "defend and secure" Estonia's energy connection with Finland.

Finnish police said Friday that an investigation was being carried out onboard the Eagle S cargo ship to determine whether it was involved in the cutting of cables in the Gulf of Finland on Wednesday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/finland-russia-tanker-undersea-cut-nato-baltics-rcna185530

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