The suspicion of sabotage has been around for a long time.
(Photo: AP)
Stockholm According to Sweden, the explosions on the two Nord Stream gas pipelines are due to sabotage. The public prosecutor’s office in Stockholm announced on Friday that the remains of explosives were found on the lines and sees an initial suspicion confirmed. At the end of September, four leaks were found in Danish and Swedish waters on the pipes running to Germany in the Baltic Sea. Shortly thereafter, sabotage was widely accepted as the reason.
Russia had pumped gas from Siberia to Germany and other European countries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline until the delivery stop. Nord Stream 2 was not commissioned because of the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Investigators from Sweden and Denmark are examining the four leaks in the two double pipes Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. Denmark had declared in October after initial investigations that the holes were caused by violent explosions.
The Swedish public prosecutor announced that objects had been secured that showed traces of explosives. These will now be further investigated. The traces supported the assumption that it was gross sabotage. The cooperation with the authorities in Sweden and other countries is excellent, said the leading prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist. Investigators declined to provide any further details.
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The Russian Presidential Office said a decision on repairs would not be made until a full assessment of the damage had been completed. The results so far supported the assumption that it was a subversive act or terrorist attack.
Gazprom did not comment
The Russian Defense Ministry said last month it was an attack by British marines. The British government had rejected this. Russia only wants to distract from its military failures in the war against Ukraine.
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No comment was initially available from the operating companies Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. The same applied to the Russian Gazprom group, which holds the majority of the companies.
The German energy company E.ON, among others, is involved in Nord Stream 1. One of Nord Stream 2’s financial partners is the Düsseldorf-based utility Uniper, which is now about to be nationalized.
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