Russian Shadow Fleet Tanker Suspected of Damaging Undersea Cable in Baltic Sea on New Year’s Eve 2025

On New Year’s Eve 2025, Finnish authorities detained a cargo ship suspected of damaging an undersea cable in Estonia's economic zone in the Baltic Sea. The vessel left a 10km drag mark from its anchor and was found carrying sanctioned Russian steel and military goods routed between Russia and Iran. As part of Russia’s shadow fleet—ships that evade sanctions, fly false flags, and use GPS jamming—this ship is implicated in hybrid warfare activities including sabotage of critical infrastructure. By 2025, there had been 11 reported undersea cable attacks in the Baltic region attributed to such vessels. These acts serve Russia’s strategic goal of undermining NATO resilience on its eastern flank, supplementing other hybrid tactics like drone deployments, espionage, and cyber-attacks. The incident underscores the shadow fleet’s multifaceted role in Moscow’s covert military logistics and hybrid conflict efforts in Northern Europe.