An alleged act of sabotage – possibly by Russia – against gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea was likely a premeditated attack using remotely detonated underwater explosive devices, according to a British defense source.
The source said all the mines could have been lowered to the sea floor in a long line, dropped off the side of a boat or placed next to Nord Stream pipelines with an underwater drone months ago, even years.
Damaged pipeline could be ‘unusable forever’ – live updates from Ukraine
Poland and Ukraine accuse Russia at the origin of the ruptures which spit gas into the sea, leaks detected on Monday.
The European Union said the sabotage was likely to blame, but it has yet to identify the culprit.
Moscow has dismissed claims it was behind the leaks as “predictably stupid and nonsensical”. The pipelines are built in Russia and transport Russian gas to Europe.
A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Russia intended to convene a meeting of the UN Security Council on damage to infrastructure.
The Russian Embassy in Denmark has declared that any sabotage is an attack on the energy security of Russia and Europe.
But a Western source said they thought the Kremlin was “protesting too much”.
Russia has used its energy as a weapon to punish European countries that depend on Russian oil and gas to sustain Ukraine following President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion.
It is an unconventional form, war in “grey zone” below the threshold of war, designed to pressure governments as their populations suffer from soaring energy costs.
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Gas pipeline leak continues to bubble
Any evidence that Russia caused pipeline damage would be an escalation in this form of hybrid warfare.
A European security source said it was “very serious”.
Read more:
What we know about Nord Stream gas leaks
Damage to Nord Stream pipelines was ‘sabotage’
Underwater ‘explosions’ recorded as pipelines were damaged
How Nord Stream 2 was controversial from the start
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“Climate disaster” in the Baltic Sea
Reuters news agency reported that the armed forces, coastguards, maritime authorities, energy agencies and police in countries including Sweden, Germany and Denmark are all investigating the leaks. .
Sweden’s public prosecutor’s office said it would review the elements of a police investigation into the damage to the pipelines and decide what action to take.
Denmark said it might take a week or two before areas around the damaged pipelines are calm enough to be investigated.
The British source played down speculation that a Russian submarine could have crashed the devices because the Baltic Sea was not particularly deep, making such an underwater mission difficult to carry out undetected.
The Ministry of Defense said it “constantly observes its areas of responsibility and interest, including the protection of critical infrastructure such as submarine cables and offshore structures”.
The spokesperson said: ‘As a matter of principle, we do not offer narratives detailing the specific capabilities of our aircraft, ships or submarines.
