Before the Finnish Police Special Operations Unit, led by Juha Hietala, boarded an oil tanker on the Baltic Sea on December 26 to stop its cable-sabotage operation, a coastal state had only once responded to undersea cable damage outside its waters by boarding a foreign vessel. In 1959, the U.S. boarded the Soviet MV Novorossiisk in the Atlantic after reports of a severed cable but did not seize it, as the Finns did. Hietala and his team made maritime history.
After Christmas, something extraordinary unfolded in the Gulf of Finland: Finland's elite Karhu unit intercepted the Russian vessel Eagle S, which had been attempting to sabotage nearly all critical connections running along the seabed of the Gulf. By the time the tanker was detained, it had already dragged its anchor and chain along the seabed, severing the Estlink 2 power cable and four other data cables. It is believed that within an hour, it would have also destroyed the Estlink 1 cable and the recently repaired Balticconnector gas pipeline.
On Christmas Day, most police and border guard special forces were celebrating the holidays with their families. Only a few remained on duty, and even they were mostly on standby at home—staying sober and available, refraining from overindulging at the festive table to ensure they were ready to act if needed.
At 12:26 PM, Finland’s Border Guard received an alert from Fingrid, the national grid operator, reporting that the Estlink 2 power cable had been severed. After previous incidents of malicious disruptions, strict protocols had been established, requiring immediate notification of any such events.
In the Border Guard's command center, four suspects were initially identified on the map. However, suspicion quickly narrowed to the 200-meter-long vessel Eagle S, which had departed Ust-Luga port that same morning. Shortly before reaching the power cable, the ship had significantly reduced its speed, suggesting it might have dropped anchor.