Putin claims Nord stream pipeline was 'attacked'

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After the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines two weeks ago, Germany has shared plans on launching a mission to investigate the attacks, with countries blaming Russia for the incident. According to a letter from the Ministry of Defence in Germany, Dieter Romann, the President of the Federal Police, last week made a request for administrative assistance to the German army “to support them in obtaining a situational picture of the damage to the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipelines”.

The request was approved after “determination of the available capacities in the Navy and legal examination by the Federal Ministry of Defence”.

Last Friday, two ships from the German Navy, the minesweeper “Dillingen” and the multi-purpose boat “Mittelgrund”, sailed from the Kiel and Eckernforde bases to the pipelines.

Also on board are divers from the federal police who plan to take pictures of the damage to the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm.

At the end of September, explosions damaged the Nord Stream pipelines in four places.

It has been assumed that it was a deliberate sabotage. 

It is not yet clear who is responsible for the incident but Russia has been blamed. 

Swedish authorities also began investigating last week and sent a submarine. 

In Germany, the Attorney General is currently examining whether investigations into a criminal offence should be started, as Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann recently explained.

It would then possibly be about anti-constitutional sabotage with an impact on Germany, said Mr Buschmann. 

Until Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany was one of western Europe’s main sources of gas.

Nord Stream 1 comprises two separate lines as does Nord Stream 2, which was filled with gas, but never allowed to deliver supplies to Europe as Germany suspended authorisation just before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Three of the four lines have been disabled by what the West and Russia say was sabotage causing huge leaks and the Danish authorities said the fourth was being depressurised on Tuesday.

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President Vladimir Putin on Friday blamed the United States and its allies, allegations rejected by Washington.

Russia has condemned what it called “stupid” theories in the West that it sabotaged the pipelines themselves in explosions last week.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen for her part said EU countries needed to step up the protection of their critical infrastructure by conducting stress tests and using satellite surveillance to detect potential threats.

She was speaking in the European Parliament ahead of a meeting of leaders of the 27 EU countries on Friday in Prague when they will debate the EU price cap plan.

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