Explosions, gas leaks and boiling sea water.
The two Nord Stream lines, 1 and 2, suffered "unprecedented" damage in the Baltic Sea stretch between Denmark and Sweden.
And although the gas pipeline connecting Russia to Europe was now stopped due to the war in Ukraine, the sanctions in Moscow and the blackmail of the Kremlin, in Amsterdam the price of gas - which had remained more or less stable even after the closing of the taps. part of Gazprom in August - it shot up to 207 euros per megawatt hour (+ 19%).
"I spoke to Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen about the Nord Stream sabotage action - the President of the European Commission, Ursula
von der Leyen
wrote in a tweet in the evening -. It is now essential to investigate the incidents, get full clarity on the events. and why. Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will lead to the strongest possible response. "
'Unprecedented'
The damage that occurred simultaneously on three Nord Stream offshore lines in a single day "is unprecedented".
This was stated by the network operator Nord Stream ag, according to what Ria Novosti reports.
The company also declared that it was impossible to estimate when the operational capacity of the gas network system will be restored.
Denmark, Baltic Sea: gas leak from Nord Stream 2
US, first indications on Nord Stream indicate an attack
The gas leaks from Nord Stream are under investigation, the first reports indicate that they were caused by an attack but they are only the first news ", said the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken , in a press conference in Washington with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. "In the coming months we must work to put an end to Europe's energy dependence on Russia", underlined the US Secretary of State.
Sweden opens investigation 'for sabotage'
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said Swedish police have opened a "preliminary investigation for sabotage".
"We work together with Denmark, Norway, Germany and the USA. The EU has been informed", she added.
Foreign Minister Ann Linde, on the other hand, said that "this is probably a sabotage, but we do not speculate who could be responsible for it".
The Swedish Security Council will meet in the morning.
Shortly before, the Danish premier, Mette Fredricksen, had stated that "the gas leaks are not an accident" and that they are "deliberate actions".
The price of gas
The price of gas lengthens in the final after a session in which it is restarted due to the damages to the Nord Stream and the doubts about the origins.
Less than half an hour after the end of negotiations, the Ttf contract in Amsterdam jumped above 200 euros, reaching 207 euros per megawatt hour (+ 19%).
Gas boils in the sea
The gas leaking from the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines is boiling to the surface in the Baltic Sea, agitating sea areas ranging from 200 to 1,000 meters in diameter.
This was reported by the Danish army in a statement that released images.
Underwater explosions
Seismological measurement stations in both Sweden and Denmark recorded strong underwater explosions in the same area as the gas leaks on Monday.
The Swedish national broadcaster Svt.
"There is no doubt that these are explosions," said Björn Lund, professor of seismology at the Swedish National Seismic Network.
The first explosion was recorded at 02.03 on Monday night and the second at 19.04 on Monday evening.
The warnings on gas leaks arrived from the maritime administration at 13.52 and 20.41 on Monday respectively.
Born, we are investigating Nord Stream gas leak cases
"NATO is closely monitoring the situation in the Baltic Sea. The allies are examining the circumstances of the gas leaks and exchanging information, including with Finland and Sweden."
This was announced by an official of the Atlantic Alliance heard by ANSA in reference to the gas leaks from the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
The Kiev accusations
"The 'gas leak' from Nord Stream 1 is nothing more than a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression against the EU. Russia wants to destabilize the economic situation in Europe and provoke panic before -winter".
Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to Ukrainian President Zelensky, writes on Twitter.
"The best response and investment for security" is to supply "tanks to Ukraine. Especially the German ones ...", he adds.
15 EU countries, price cap for all gas imports
There are also the signatures of France and Bulgaria in the letter from the 15 EU countries addressed to the Commission asking for a price cap on gas imports.
The letter, originally signed by Italy and 12 other countries, was sent to the EU executive ahead of the Energy Affairs Council on Friday.
The accession of Paris, so far cautious about the initiative of a ceiling on the price of gas, gives greater force to the request of the capital group.
"The price cap, demanded from the beginning by an ever-increasing number of EU states, is the only measure that will help each country to mitigate inflationary pressure, manage expectations, provide a framework in the event of potential supply disruptions and limit the extra-profits of the sector ", reads the letter signed by Italy, Spain, Poland, Greece, Belgium, Malta, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia and Romania, and addressed to Brussels.
"The cap should apply to all transactions" and "not limited to imports from specific jurisdictions".
'No impact on security'
"The Commission has been informed of three gas leaks, two in Nord Stream 1 and one in Nord Stream 2."
This was explained by Tim McPhie, spokesman for the executive, explaining that the EU is monitoring the situation and underlining that "there is no impact on security". premature speculate "on the causes of gas leaks.
Italian storage close to 90%
Italian gas storage is close to 90%.
The European platform that certifies the data marks 173.36 TWh this morning as the quantity of gas injected, equal to 89.62% of the total capacity.
In Europe, 976.95 TWh were stored with an average filling rate of 87.73%.
Submarine attack hypothesis
It is very unlikely that the pressure loss of the Nord Stream gas pipelines is the result of accident, and a sabotage operation, the most plausible path considered by experts, could have been committed only by a state actor, at the hands of navy divers or with a submarine.
This is what Tagesspiegel writes about the damage suffered by the pipelines.
The Danish navy and German security specialists are trying to clarify what was the cause of the pressure drop in the two pipelines.
"Our fantasy cannot find a scenario other than the hypothesis of a targeted attack," said a source quoted by Tagesspiegel.
"Everything suggests that it was not a coincidence".
According to the newspaper, two main hypotheses are being debated at the moment: at the origin of the
there could be Ukraine or some of its allies in ambush;
or it could have been a Russian false flag operation to fuel greater insecurity and drive up gas prices further.
The Kremlin's reaction
The Kremlin defines the decrease in pressure on the lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline "an unprecedented situation that requires urgent investigation".
This was stated by the spokesman of the Kremlin Dmitri Peskov, according to reports from TASS.
The Kremlin does not rule out that "the destruction of the lines of the Nord Stream pipeline may be the result of sabotage", Peskov said, adding that "the emergency on the Nord Stream lines is a problem that concerns the energy security of the entire continent".
