Sabotage Suspected in Nord Stream Pipeline Leak: Swedish Police

Initial investigations into four Nord Stream pipeline leaks by the Swedish and Danish authorities have reinforced the theory that "serious sabotage" was responsible.

On Thursday, Sweden’s domestic security agency said its preliminary inquiry into the leaks from two Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea has “strengthened the suspicions of serious sabotage” as the cause. Investigators have confirmed that “detonations" caused extensive damage to the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines that were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany.

“After a crime scene investigation, the Security Police can state that there have been detonations at Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Swedish economic zone, which have caused extensive damage to the gas pipelines,” the Swedish police said.

Last week, NATO said the damage to the pipelines was of “deep concern.”

“All currently available information indicates that this is the result of deliberate, reckless, and irresponsible acts of sabotage. These leaks are causing risks to shipping and substantial environmental damage. We support the investigations underway to determine the origin of the damage,” the alliance said in a statement.

Risk to climate

The leaks from the pipelines discharged large amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, into the air.

Sergei Kupriyanov, spokesperson for Russia’s Grazprom, has stated that 800 million cubic meters of natural gas had escaped. The volume of escaped gas is equivalent to three months' supply for Denmark, he claimed.

U.S. behind the attacks?

Russians have been claiming all along that it whoever stands to gain from Nord Stream falling apart – the West – must behind it.

"The sanctions were not enough for the Anglo-Saxons: they moved onto sabotage,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said last Friday.

Some experts argue that the U.S. has both the capability and motive to carry out last week’s sabotage.

“There is considerable circumstantial evidence that the destruction of Nord Stream is a U.S. operation, perhaps with other NATO countries,” Jeffrey Sachs, a world-renowned American professor of economics, was quoted as saying by TRT World. “The U.S. also has a track record of destroying the infrastructure of other countries, including a Soviet pipeline in the 1980s,” he reasons.

He, however, added that “nothing is certain.”

“There are many reports of U.S. aircraft overflying the region of the pipeline in the hours before the explosion. I can’t independently verify these claims, but they are widespread,” Sachs, a Columbia University professor, where he also leads Center for Sustainable Development, says.

Washington denies involvement, Russia not invited to join investigation

Richard Mills, the U.S. deputy representative to the United Nations, said, “Let me be clear, the U.S. categorically denies any involvement in this incident and we reject an assertion saying the contrary.”

Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Moscow had been informed via diplomatic channels that it will not be allowed to join the investigation. He added that it was not possible to conduct an objective investigation without Russia’s participation.