🇫🇮 Archive

October figures on frontline shifts according to Finland’s Black Bird Group: Russians barely moved.

A court in Helsinki sentenced two sailors from the vessel Fitburg, which damaged cables in the Gulf of Finland, Yle and Reuters report.

A Finnish court convicted the captain and boatswain of a cargo ship of aggravated criminal damage in relation to an incident last year in the Gulf of Finland.

A Finnish court on Thursday found a Russian ship captain and an Azerbaijani crew member guilty of aggravated sabotage after their vessel, the cargo ship Fitburg, damaged two underwater telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland last year. Finland seized the Fitburg in the Gulf of Finland on Dec. 31 while it was sailing from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Israel. Authorities in the Nordic country suspected it purposefully damaged cables running from Finland to nearby Estonia. A judge at the Helsinki District Court sentenced the Russian ship captain to 3 years and 6 months in prison, while the Azerbaijani crew member received 2 years and 10 months. In a statement, the court said the two men acted intentionally when the ship dragged an anchor chain and shank along the seabed for around 130 kilometers (81 miles). The Helsinki District Court also ordered the two men to jointly pay around 1.9 million euros ($2.1 million) in damages. Both the captain and crew member, who have remained in Finland since the Fitburg's seizure and are subject to travel bans, have denied any wrongdoing. They also challenged Finland's jurisdiction in the case. Finland has stepped up efforts to protect its undersea infrastructure following a string of incidents impacting cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea in recent years.

The series of warnings on Thursday morning affected flights between Italy, Ireland, the UK, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Finland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Greece and Czechia. The latest alerts affected flights by Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Wizz Air, Finnair and LOT. All landed safely. Initial searches of some of the planes found nothing suspicious. Also affected were an LOT Polish Airlines flight from Warsaw to Brussels, two Finnair flights from Helsinki to Rome and Vienna and four flights by other airlines to Prague. The threats against the Finnair flights were “unfounded or hoax”, said an airline representative.

A Finnish court on Thursday jailed the Russian captain and an Azerbaijani crew member of the cargo ship Fitburg for aggravated sabotage over damage to two subsea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland last year. Finland on December 31 seized the vessel in the Gulf of Finland while it was en route from Russia to Israel, on suspicion that it had damaged cables running from Helsinki to Estonia. The Helsinki District Court sentenced the captain to three years and six months in prison.

At least eight flights from Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Madrid, Milan and Warsaw were confirmed to have been targeted with bomb threats. Finnair said that Flight 1761 from Helsinki to Rome was targeted by a bomb threat, but nothing out of the ordinary was found after it landed, Finnish broadcaster Yle reported.

The Helsinki-Rome flight was escorted to Rome by a fighter jet and was checked by bomb disposal experts, an airport spokesman told AFP.

Finland seized the Fitburg freighter last year over the suspected sabotage of cables linking Helsinki and Tallinn. A Finnish court on Thursday convicted the Russian captain and a senior crew member of the cargo ship Fitburg for damaging two undersea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland last year. The Helsinki District Court found the two defendants guilty of “aggravated criminal damage.” The defendants denied any wrongdoing and have questioned Finland’s jurisdiction in the case. Finnish authorities seized the vessel on December 31 on suspicion that it had damaged cables linking Finland’s capital, Helsinki, and Tallinn, Estonia. Finnish police at the time said the ship had been dragging its anchor for hours when it was discovered. Finland has stepped up efforts to protect its undersea infrastructure following a series of incidents involving cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

A flight from Finland landed in Rome as scheduled but with a military escort, and various others touched down at their scheduled destinations across the continent. Finland's Finnair carrier reported that two planes landed at their scheduled destinations but amid security scares. One Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome landed with a military escort. Another plane from the Finnish capital, operated by Jettime, also landed in Vienna as scheduled.

A flight from Finland landed in Rome as scheduled but with a military escort. Finland's Finnair carrier reported that two planes landed at their scheduled destinations but amid security scares. One Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome landed with a military escort. Another plane from the Finnish capital, operated by Jettime, also landed in Vienna as scheduled.

A flight from Finland landed in Rome as scheduled but with a military escort, and another landed in Brussels amid a security threat.

Finland’s Minister of Economic Affairs Sakari Puisto and Singapore’s minister Tan See Leng witnessed the signing of a five-year nuclear safety cooperation agreement during Puisto’s visit to Singapore. The agreement brings together Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre and the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute (SNRSI) at the National University of Singapore. The visit also produced a cooperation agreement between Finnish technology company ROTOBOOST and Singapore’s Sembcorp. Puisto visited Singapore with a 16-member Finnish business delegation from the built environment and energy sectors.

According to the Arctic Council, an international body which includes the US, Russia, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, last year saw a record 1,812 vessels operating in the Arctic.

The Kremlin is escalating its space war with the West: a Russian satellite may have come within 30 metres of a Finnish-American spacecraft in orbit.

A flight from Finland landed in Rome as scheduled but with a military escort.

A Finnish court said on Thursday it has found the captain and a crew member of the cargo ship Fitburg guilty of damaging two subsea telecommunications cables in the Gulf of Finland last year. Finland seized the vessel in the Gulf of Finland on December 31 while it was en route from Russia to Israel, on suspicion that it had damaged cables running from Helsinki to Estonia. Finland has intensified efforts to protect its undersea infrastructure following a string of incidents affecting cables and pipelines in the Baltic Sea since 2022. The defendants, who are subject to travel bans, denied any wrongdoing and have challenged Finland's jurisdiction in the case.

The satellite that was approached, called X36, is operated by the Finnish company ICEYE and provides radar imagery to Western governments and militaries, including Ukraine.

Satellite operator ICEYE's headquarters in Espoo, Finland.

Shona Murray reports from Helsinki on Europe's reaction to the Democratic win and what to expect from the Ukraine talks planned for next week.