The Swedish Security Service has confirmed that the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines had been subject to sabotage, the agency website states.
“This investigation shows that the pipelines have been subject to gross sabotage. In the crime scene investigations carried out onsite in the Baltic Sea, the extensive damage to the gas pipelines resulting from detonations has been thoroughly documented,” the message reads.
Several “foreign items” were seized, with explosive residue identified on “a number of the seized and analysed foreign items”.
On 26 September, gas leaks were reported on two strings of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the exclusive economic zone of Denmark to the northeast of the island of Bornholm. Later, another leak was documented on one of the strings of Nord Stream 2 in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone to the southeast of Bornholm. Swedish and Danish seismic stations documented two major underwater explosions in the area of the gas leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.
On 27 September, Der Tagesspiegel reported that the pipelines may have been damaged in a deliberate attack by divers or from a submarine. The investigation was considering two versions of what happened: one version said Ukraine or pro-Ukrainian forces were behind the attack, while the other one suggested that Russia may have been involved in the incident. Norway’s Energy Ministry and Danish Police reported that they had documented the presence of unidentified drones in the North Sea after the leaks.
On 12 October, Vladimir Putin accused the United States of being responsible for the attacks on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. He claimed that Washington had carried out the attack in order to cut off Europe’s access to cheap energy and sell its gas at higher prices.
