The explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines were sabotage, investigations say

The explosions that hit the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September, built at carry Russian gas in Europe, they went a sabotage, the prosecutor in charge of preliminary investigations in Sweden announced on Friday.

“The analyzes that have been carried out show remains of explosives in many of the foreign objects found,” said prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist, in charge of the preliminary investigations opened after the discovery in late September of four huge gas leaks in gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany.

“The continuation of the preliminary investigations will prove it if anyone can be prosecuted‘ the indictment added.

Two of the bankruptcies occurred in the Swedish economic zone and two in the Danish economic zone.

the explosions

On September 26, Nord Stream 2 AG, operator of the Russian gas pipeline of the same name, announced a gas leak for unknown reasons in one of two infrastructure pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm.

It later emerged that the two lines of the parallel Nord Stream 1 pipeline had also been damaged. Germany, Denmark and Sweden have not ruled out an act of sabotage.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service has cataloged the explosions of “terrorist attack”, and revealed on Sept. 30 that he had evidence pointing to the implication of some western countries.

The preliminary underwater inspections They reinforced suspicions of sabotage, as the leaks were preceded by explosions, according to investigators.

At the end of October the Nord Stream consortium, of which majority shareholder is the Russian company Gazpromsent a Russian-flagged civilian vessel to survey the Swedish area.

Nord Stream also received permission to review the Danish area in November e an investigation is still ongoing.

Both pipelines have been at the center of geopolitical tensions since the start of the war in Ukraine, fueled by Moscow’s decision to cut off gas supplies to Europe in retaliation for Western sanctions.

Russia calls for those responsible to be found

Russia asked on Friday to continue the investigation until the perpetrators of the sabotage are found.

“It’s very important not to stop, it’s very important to establish who is behind the explosion“Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said this during his daily press conference.

He added that the very fact of the arrival of data that this is “sabotage or a terrorist act – it can be called anything – once again confirms the information that the Russian side had.”

“In the investigations that have been done on the spot in the Baltic Sea many items were seized and the area is thoroughly documented. The analyzes carried out show traces of explosives in many of the objects found,” reads a statement from the Swedish prosecutor’s office.

According to the Kremlin spokesman yet It is premature to talk about the possibility of repairing gas pipelines.

“First there will have to be a comprehensive damage assessment. It is necessary to analyze these data before specialists give an opinion on the prospects for (gas pipeline) repair,” Peskov said.

EFE and AFP