Nord Stream: the first Swedish inspections “reinforce suspicions of sabotage”

The shadow of doubt did not have time to hover.

The first inspections carried out this week by the Swedish authorities on the site of the leaks of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea "reinforce the suspicions of sabotage", with "detonations" having caused "significant damage", announces the prosecution this Thursday.

“We can see that there have been detonations near Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Swedish exclusive economic zone, which have caused significant damage to the gas pipelines,” said the special prosecutor in charge of the investigation Swedish side in a press release.

“Crime scene inspections have reinforced suspicions of aggravated sabotage.

Seizures have been made on the spot which will be examined,” he added.

Sweden, which had for the purposes of the investigation established Monday a perimeter of several kilometers to prohibit access to the site, announced the lifting of the restrictions.

No details were provided on how the underwater inspections were conducted.

70,000 tonnes of methane released

Very quickly after the explosions that occurred at the end of September, all eyes turned to Russia, which denies any responsibility and Brussels immediately denounced an act of “sabotage”.

What is the origin of these explosions?

This is still unclear and the investigation is continuing.

Completed on Nord Stream 1, a leak is still ongoing on Nord Stream 2, according to the Swedish Coast Guard.

VIDEO.

Sabotage of Nord Stream gas pipelines: "It's not common, but it's not complicated to do"

70,000 tons of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, were released into the sea following these leaks, according to an estimate Wednesday by French researchers based on atmospheric observations.

“These are significant figures, equivalent to 2% of French emissions or the emissions of a city like Paris over one year, this is not good news, but not a climate bomb”, noted Philippe Ciais, researcher at the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA), at the Climate and Environmental Sciences Laboratory.