Swedish media has published the first footage showing damage inflicted to one of Nord Stream’s pipelines following last month’s explosions.
The footage, shot off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm by Expressen, shows a massive gash in one of the pipes, which looks almost as if its 41 mm coated steel wall was crudely opened by a giant can opener. Traces of a powerful explosion are also visible on the seabed floor.
The newspaper said it received exclusive permission to film the footage from Denmark’s authorities, with the video shot by an underwater drone.
Danish Police issued a statement Tuesday saying that a joint investigation between themselves and their Norwegian counterparts had concluded that the pipelines “suffered significant damage” as a result of “powerful explosions.” Police did not name potential culprits behind the attack, and said it was premature to say when the investigation would be completed, or about the potential involvement of Swedish and German law enforcement in their probe. The latter two countries are holding separate inquiries.
On Monday, sources told the Wall Street Journal that German investigators had also concluded that the series of explosions which damaged Nord Stream were likely caused by sabotage, and that while they haven’t been able to definitively link the sabotage to any actor, they were “working under the assumption that Russia was behind the blasts.”
The outlet’s sources did not explain why Russia, which could simply turn the pipelines off in the event of a dispute with Europe, would destroy its own pipelines and rob itself of tens of billions of dollars in annual export revenue. Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod announced earlier this month that Copenhagen would block Russia from participating in the investigation into the attacks, with Moscow expressing alarm over this prospect.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized the sabotage of the Nord Stream network as an “unprecedented act of international terrorism,” by the “Anglo-Saxons,” and said that the attacks purpose was “to undermine the energy security of the entire continent.” Putin also suggested that those behind the sabotage “seek to finally break the ties between Russia and the European Union…undermine and finish off the political sovereignty of Europe, weaken its industrial potential, [and] take over the market” for energy deliveries.
The September 26 attack on Nord Stream left pipes A and B of Nord Stream 1 inoperable, and Pipe A of Nord Stream 2 inoperable. Earlier this month, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said Moscow would be ready to quickly start delivering gas over the undamaged Pipe B of Nord Stream 2 if Russia’s European colleagues made the “required legal decisions concerning its certification and lifting of restrictions.”