Back in the summer, the CIA warned the German authorities about possible sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, writes Der Spiegel, citing sources in Berlin.
In front of the publication, the German government noted that “we do not take a public position on matters related to any intelligence or intelligence activities,” but added that Berlin is inclined to believe that this was a targeted attack on gas pipelines.
Officially, the US authorities do not confirm the Nord Stream sabotage version. According to the head of the State Department, Anthony Blinken, stopping the gas pipelines “is not in anyone’s interest”, and the investigation of this incident will continue. The White House also refused to discuss the versions of what happened.
The leaders of the EU, however, are much more categorical in their statements and openly talk about sabotage.
“The European Union will respond to the sabotage of the three lines of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines with decisive action, but first the perpetrators must be identified,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. In her view, any deliberate disruption of Europe’s active energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will lead to the strongest possible response.
“The incidents in Nord Stream are the result of deliberate actions,” the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, was categorical. He stated that the European Union would support any investigation into the incidents and take measures to strengthen the union’s energy security.
Germany, Denmark and Sweden have said that the Nord Stream leaks were caused by deliberately triggered explosions.
“The leaks found in the Nord Stream gas pipeline are obviously caused by deliberate actions and cannot be the result of a random accident. There is still no information on who is behind this,” commented Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen yesterday.
Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the leaks were the result of targeted attacks on infrastructure and that they were certainly not caused by natural causes – an accident or material corrosion. The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, believes that “this act of sabotage is connected with the next step in the escalation of the situation in Ukraine.”
Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that in Russia “they do not rule out the possibility of sabotage”.
On the night of September 26, the pressure in the two branches of “Nord Stream-1” dropped sharply. A little later, the same thing happened to one branch of “Nord Stream-2”. Danish maritime authorities immediately identified the gas leak off the coast of the island of Bornholm and banned shipping around it. They released a video and photos showing that it was not a minor accident, but a massive gas leak. It later became clear that there were three leaks.
The Swedish National Seismological Center said it had recorded powerful underwater explosions in the area of the leak, but believed they were not related to the earthquake. According to seismologists, the second, more powerful explosion is the equivalent of exploding 100 kg of TNT. Moreover, the explosions are not on the seabed. “The signals do not resemble those from earthquakes. They resemble signals from recorded explosions,” reports the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland.
