More than a month after Swedish domestic security began investigating the leaks from two Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, that agency determined gross sabotage caused the late September explosions on the line.
Less than a week after the Nord Streams 1 and 2 pipeline explosions, evidence seized by Swedish Security Services during their preliminary investigation into the blasts confirmed Western suspicions that the damage was caused by sabotage, The Dallas Express reported.
The detonations are the subject of an investigation led by chamber prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist, who described the incident as “serious sabotage.”
“Analyses that have now been carried out show traces of explosives on several of the foreign objects that were found,” Ljungqvist said. “The advanced analysis work continues to be able to draw safer conclusions about the incident.”
The gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea have caused a rift between NATO and the Kremlin as the U.S. and its allies remain locked in conflict over Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, The Dallas Express reported.
All eyes are on the West and Russia as potentially having various motives for sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. Germany shut down Nord Stream 2 before Russia invaded Ukraine in February, and in October, Moscow shut down Nord Stream 1 due to Western sanctions.
A joint investigation team led by the Norwegian police intelligence service and the Norwegian armed forces was formed by Copenhagen police to look into the incident, according to ABC News.
Officials from Denmark refused to provide any further details about the investigation into the gas leaks, stating that it was impossible to predict when it could be expected to be finished.
Initially, after the leaks were discovered, Former CIA Director John Brennan said Moscow was the “most likely suspect.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin denied the claim and charged that the United Kingdom had sabotaged the pipelines Russia built. Of course, the U.S. and its allies vehemently refuted the allegation, according to ABC News.
Germany revealed last week that it had also started looking into the pipeline damage. Germany’s previous head of intelligence said “only Russia” could have been accountable for the pipeline sabotage at the time.
Other experts agreed in October that Russia was the most likely culprit. Russian ships and subs were spotted in the area at the time, Business Insider reported.
U.S. President Joe Biden referred to the pipeline damage as a “deliberate act of sabotage” and vowed to cooperate with allies to determine what exactly occurred.
On September 26, the Nord Stream 1 control center’s dispatchers noticed a decrease in pressure on both gas pipeline strings. The firm that runs the pipelines claimed that pressure in both of them was stabilized on October 3, ABC News reported.
While the Kremlin blamed Kyiv for the situation and its refusal to negotiate peace, the U.N. warned that a worsening humanitarian crisis is on the horizon for Ukraine. The Kremlin’s launching of missile attacks—after evacuating civilians—threatens to make major Ukrainian cities uninhabitable, NBC News reported.
In the midst of the country’s first snowfall of the season, Russia launched more missiles at Ukrainian cities. The bombings damaged power plants and cut off electricity and water to millions of people in Ukraine.
As engineers raced to restore power to various areas, authorities in some regions ordered forced blackouts, according to NBC News.
