Status: 06.04.2023 21:42
Who is behind the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea? There is still a lot of speculation about this. The Swedish prosecutor assumes that a state is responsible.
The explosions that brought the Nord Stream pipelines to the Baltic Sea to a standstill last fall were likely caused by a state actor. The Swedish public prosecutor’s office has come to this conclusion, the official said. The identity of the perpetrators is unclear. “We hope to be able to determine who committed this crime,” said prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist. But that’s difficult, it’s a complex case.
In view of all the circumstances, the most important investigative approach was “that a state is behind this”. The prosecutor attributed this, among other things, to the fact that “the crime scene was in the Baltic Sea, 80 meters deep”. Those responsible “acted knowing they were going to leave their mark”.
Explosive residues were detected
A total of four leaks were discovered on September 26 and 27 in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which run from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany. Two of the leaks were in the Swedish economic zone and two in the Danish one. The pipelines were built to transport Russian gas to Germany. At the time of the explosions, they were not operational but contained gas.
According to Sweden, sabotage is behind the incident. Thus, explosive residues were detected. Russia, among others, was suspected of being the mastermind of the alleged sabotage. Moscow denied the allegations and, in turn, blamed its suspicions on Washington. According to media reports, however, investigations into the blasts also led to Ukraine.
Prosecutor: “Very large number of actors” excluded
Prosecutor Ljungqvist said investigators were able to identify the type of explosive used and thus rule out “a very large number of actors”. He did not say which explosives were involved because the investigation was still ongoing. It cannot be ruled out that an independent group was behind the attack, but it is unlikely.
Ljungqvist said the incident had become an open arena for attempts to influence highly debated proceedings, likely to intentionally create confusion. “I don’t want to comment on any particular report, but I conclude that many of the hot theories can be easily dismissed based on what we know from the investigation,” he said.