Concerns about infrastructure sabotage are growing

Berlin, Brussels, Stockholm Security experts assume that the destruction of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines is an act of sabotage and that attacks on other infrastructure could follow. “Russia is now moving to hybrid warfare. This is a new dimension,” said the foreign policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Nils Schmid, to the Handelsblatt.

So far, however, it has not been proven who or what caused the damage. In order to prevent further attacks on undersea pipes and cables, several Western countries want to strengthen their controls in relevant sea areas.

On the German side, responsibility for investigating the damage lies with the Federal Intelligence Service (BND). The authority is currently evaluating ship movements in the sea area at the time in question as well as satellite and communication data. According to experts, it will take one to two weeks before the crime scenes can be examined on site. First, the gas must escape from the pipelines.