Nord Stream leaks were intentional says Danish Foreign Minister
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Shocking video footage shot by a Norwegian robotics firm has unveiled the huge tear in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that was “sabotaged” last month. The pipeline, which normally sends Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, started leaking after a suspected blast to the system in what the West believes was a deliberate attack by Russia, although there is still no clear evidence for this. The damage caused by two powerful explosions tore four holes in the system, according to Danish police – but now for the first time the extent of the damage has been laid bare. Shot by Blueye Robotics and published by Swedish newspaper Expressen, the footage shows the damaged metal of the Nord Stream pipe 80 metres below the sea surface.
Blueye Robotics sent out a submersible drone to capture the sight on video, which revealed that parts of the pipeline had either gone missing or were buried in the seabed, according the firm.
Trond Larsen, the operator of the underwater drone, spoke to Expressen and said: “It is only an extreme force that can bend metal that thick in the way we are seeing.” Mr Larsen added that he could see “a very large impact on the seabed around the pipe”.
This comes after Swedish authorities said on October 6 that after an underwater inspection of the site, they collected “pieces of evidence,” which they say back up claims that the system was deliberately sabotaged.
Danish police on Tuesday said they had also completed several inspections of the leaks in the Danish zone, together with the intelligence service PET. They said in a statement: “The inspections have confirmed that there has been extensive damage to Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Danish exclusive economic zone and that the damage was caused by powerful explosions.”
Both the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines appeared to have been targeted in these likely acts of sabotage, with damage to each system occurring just 46 miles apart. Earth tremors in the affected areas were also recorded on September 26.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak called it a “clear act of aggression against the EU”. The bloc got 40 percent of its gas from Russia last year, and deliveries through Nord Stream 1 to Europe halted on September 26 following the incident.
Russia has been continuously accused by the West of “weaponising” energy and had already slashed supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in August. Mr Podolyak tweeted: “Gas leak from NS-1 [Nord Stream 1] is nothing more than a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression towards the EU. Russia wants to destabilise the economic situation in Europe and cause pre-winter panic.”
But while German, Danish, and Swedish authorities have all launched their own investigations into the incident, a joint investigation was reportedly rejected by Swedish prosecutors on the grounds that sharing sensitive information could pose national security-related issues.
Even Russia, who is suspect number one in the eyes of the West, has previously demanded to be involved in any investigations, arguing that the damage was in international waters. However, Denmark and Sweden rejected this request.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed to be “very concerned” about the incident, adding that “we are talking about some damage of an unclear nature to the pipeline in Denmark’s economic zone”.
The former CEO of Naftogaz, Ukraine’s state-owned gas giant, has speculated that the huge tears in the Nord Stream system were caused by explosive packed onto the pipeline and the detonated.
Andriy Kobolyev, who left Naftogaz in 2021, told the Telegraph that Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled energy conglomerate, may have stuck on some explosive devices as a kind of insurance measure, adding that was it was not uncommon during the Soviet era to build explosives into key infrastructure.
He said: “Knowing that many of these guys are ex-KGB, we shouldn’t be surprised that they use this as a standard. Even in Ukraine, we have such sensors. Gazprom, with all its money, will have installed more sensitive ones of Nord Stream 2.”
John Baldwin, Managing Director of CNG Services, also suspects that the Russians could have made preparations for invasion last year. He told Express.co.uk: “It’s obvious that Putin was getting ready to invade Ukraine from the middle part of 2021, so it’s possible then he could have put some mines down there around the pipe, which sort of detonated.
“The worry is obviously that he could have put similar mines around the Norwegian gas pipelines that come to the UK and the UK pipelines and cables.
“That’s almost like the message isn’t it, ‘I’ve mined my own pipes in international waters, but I might as well have mined your pipes and you’ll never find those mines. If you keep helping Ukraine one day they might go and you won’t have any gas at all.'”
The attacks have also raised the alarm that other critical energy infrastructure in the seas could be targeted. As a result, NATO has now doubled its presence in the Baltic and the North Sea to more than 30 ships supported by aircraft and undersea activities.
This is a breaking story. More to Follow.
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