The captain and two senior officers of a ship believed to belong to Russia's "shadow fleet" have been charged with sabotage for cutting five Baltic Sea cables in December, Finnish prosecutors said.
The crew members of the Cook Islands-registered oil tanker Eagle S were alleged to have dragged the ship's anchor on the seabed for around 90 kilometres (56 miles), damaging five undersea cables in the Gulf of Finland.
They have been charged with "aggravated criminal mischief and aggravated interference with communications", the office of Finland's Deputy Prosecutor General said in a statement.
The office did not disclose the nationalities of the accused, however, Deputy Prosecutor General Jukka Rappe said many of the crew had been Indian and Georgian nationals.
The criminal investigation was launched after the EstLink 2 submarine power cable and four telecommunications cables connecting Finland and Estonia were damaged on December 25.
"The owners of the cables have suffered a total of at least €60m in immediate damage in the form of repair costs alone," the statement said.
The Eagle S is believed to belong to the Russian shadow fleet - which comprises of old tankers used to skirt restrictions on Russian oil exports.
The disruption "is also suspected to have caused a serious risk to energy supply and telecommunications in Finland", according to the statement.
Read more: Tanker suspected of damaging Baltic cables leaves Finland
Claims of 'no jurisdiction'
Having denied the offences during the investigation, the defendants - who are banned from leaving Finland - have argued that Finland has no jurisdiction in the case, because the cuts took place outside Finnish territorial waters.
But according to Mr Rappe, since the cable cuts "seriously endangered important functions of society", Finnish jurisdiction applies in the case.
"Considering that these are cables with extremely high capacity, the danger was obvious," he said.
"So the act can be considered to have been committed in Finland, even though the cable was cut outside Finnish territory."
A trial should begin within two weeks.
Read more: EU to enhance security of undersea cables after sabotage
Mounting tensions
Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
A series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe in September 2022, the cause of which has yet to be determined.
In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.
Several undersea Baltic cables were also damaged last year, with many experts calling it part of a "hybrid war" carried out by Russia against Western countries.
Finland and Sweden abandoned decades of military non-alignment and joined NATO in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In January, the military alliance launched a Baltic Sea monitoring mission in response to several incidents of suspected sabotage.
