The geological surveys in Denmark, Sweden and Germany announced that they recorded, last Monday, vibrations similar to those caused by explosions rather than earthquakes, while German intelligence suggested that divers placed explosive devices in the path of the Nord Stream tube, while Russia described the accusations against it of attacking Nord Stream as "" foolishness."

Meanwhile, the hypothesis of sabotage appeared to have been confirmed in Stockholm, with the investigation being outsourced to Swedish intelligence.

The intelligence said in a statement that it had received the preliminary investigation from the police because the matter may have resulted from a "serious crime that could be directed, at least in part, against Swedish interests," noting that "it is not excluded that a foreign force may be involved."

Swedish Foreign Minister Anne Linde said it was not possible to guess who was behind the gas leak from the Nord Stream pipelines.

Lindy also indicated that her American counterpart, Anthony Blinken, promised her support to discover the circumstances of what happened.

In turn, Danish Defense Minister Morten Podskov said that the leak was not a coincidence, but was well planned.

The Danish Energy Agency indicated that more than half of the gas stored in the Nord Stream pipeline affected by the sabotage, has already exited the pipelines through the three holes discovered.

The agency expected the tubes to be completely empty before the week was over.

The European Union's foreign and security policy coordinator, Josep Borrell, said he believed an act of sabotage was the likely cause of the leaks from the two Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Borrell added that any deliberate tampering with European energy facilities would be met with a strong and united response.


Scenario of attack by divers

For its part, the German government spoke of evidence that there could not be a natural cause for the accident, while German intelligence suggested that divers placed explosive devices in the path of the tube.

The German newspaper "tagesspiegel" said that the German intelligence service "BND" plays a role in the investigation process into the possible sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

She added that German intelligence was conducting reconnaissance and evaluation of satellite images of possible movements of ships in the period leading up to the bombings.

She mentioned that one of the scenarios is that divers plant explosives in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.

According to the newspaper, the sabotage resulted in huge explosions, and the speed of the pressure drop was high in return.

The newspaper stated that the distance between the three sites that witnessed the leaks was very far apart, noting that given the size of the destruction, a very large amount of salt water could flow into the pipes, which could lead to erosion of the pipes, and thus forever destruction.

According to Tagesspiegel, many questions will now be directed to the German government about its handling of warnings of possible attacks directed at it by US intelligence several weeks ago.

The newspaper quoted "people familiar with the matter" that Berlin received this information from US intelligence last summer, and also quoted government departments that the indications were not very clear at the time.

The Security Council is looking into the leak

After being accused of the alleged sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, Moscow launched a counterattack today, Wednesday, demanding the convening of the UN Security Council, and pointing to the possible involvement of the United States, which in turn denounced a new "disinformation" operation.

Sweden announced Wednesday that the UN Security Council will meet on Friday at Russia's request to discuss the issue of the gas leak.

"France, as president of the Security Council, told us that Russia requested a meeting to discuss the issue of the leak from Nord Stream, and that this meeting is scheduled for Friday," the Swedish foreign minister said in a press conference, explaining that Sweden and Denmark were tasked with providing Security Council members with information about the leak that occurred in their two economic regions.

Nord Stream A.

AG: Three of the four offshore lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline network suffered “unprecedented” damage (Anatolia)

Foolish accusations

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that accusations that Russia was somehow responsible for a possible attack on the Nord Stream pipelines were foolish, adding that the United States had opposed the pipelines, and that its companies had reaped huge profits from gas supplies to Europe.

During a daily press conference by telephone, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that it was necessary to investigate the accident, adding that the time frame for repairing damage to the pipelines was not clear.

In response to a question about accusations that Russia might be behind the possible attack, Peskov said, "It is completely predictable, and as expected is foolish as well."

"This is a big problem, because the two Nord Stream lines are filled with gas, and the whole system is ready to pump gas and expensive gas," he said. "Now the gas is flying in the air."

"We see huge profits for American LNG suppliers, who have increased their supplies to the European continent exponentially... They are very interested in getting more of their super profits," Peskov added.

The White House responded that it was "ridiculous" to suggest that the United States may have committed these acts of sabotage.

"We all know that Russia has been spreading disinformation for a long time and is doing it again here," said Adrian Watson, a spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council.

For its part, Nord Stream A.

AG, which operates the network, said on Tuesday that three of the four offshore lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline network suffered "unprecedented" damage in a single day.

In this context, the Interfax news agency quoted the Russian Prosecutor's Office as saying today, Wednesday, that the Russian Federal Security Service is investigating the damage to the two Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea as an act of "international terrorism."

geopolitical confrontation

It is noteworthy that the two pipelines operated by the Russian giant Gazprom have stopped pumping as a result of the war in Ukraine, although they are still filled with gas, while they are part of the tools of geopolitical confrontation.

Nord Stream 2, which was completed in 2021, aimed to double the ability to export Russian gas to Germany.

It was suspended in response to the Ukraine war.

The latest leak has reduced the prospect of resuming gas deliveries to Europe via Nord Stream 1 in the near future.

Gazprom gradually reduced the volumes of gas being delivered, until the pipeline was completely shut down in late August, and blamed Western sanctions for delaying needed repairs to the facility.

The Europeans, who rely heavily on Russian gas for heating this winter, accuse Moscow of using gas shipments as leverage.