Finland Drills Ship Boarding in Baltic Sea to Counter Russian Undersea Sabotage

Finland conducted large-scale exercises in the Baltic Sea on Thursday, training coast guard, police, and military special forces to board and search suspicious vessels. The drills come amid growing concerns about Russian undersea sabotage of critical infrastructure.

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During the exercise, operators rappelled from a helicopter onto the designated vessel, took control of the crew, and conducted a thorough inspection. Coast guard commander Ilya Ilyin, who led the operation, said treating the threat of undersea sabotage seriously had become a “new normal” for Helsinki.

“Over the past two to three years, there have been several incidents in the Baltic Sea involving damage to critical underwater infrastructure. So we must be prepared,” Ilyin stated.

The exercises reflect Finland’s heightened security posture since joining NATO in 2023, particularly following incidents with undersea cables and pipelines in the Baltic region.