Finnish authorities say they have charged the captain and two senior officers of a Russia-linked vessel that damaged undersea cables last year between Finland and Estonia.

The National Prosecution Authority in Helsinki indicted the captain and two first officers of the Eagle S, a Cook Islands-registered tanker believed to be part of a "shadow fleet" transporting Russian oil in violation of international sanctions.

Monday's statement alleges that “the Eagle S, which left Russia’s Ust-Luga with a cargo of oil products, is suspected of cutting five submarine cables in the Gulf of Finland by dragging its anchor on the seabed for about 90 kilometers (56 miles)."