Fourth leak reportedly found on Nord Stream pipeline after 'sabotage' claims
A fourth gas leak has been discovered on the damaged Nord Stream pipelines.
Sweden’s coast guard made the find earlier this week, a spokesperson told the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.
The European Union suspects sabotage was behind the gas leaks on the subsea Russian pipelines to Europe and has promised a ‘robust response’ to any intentional disruption of its energy infrastructure.
‘Two of these four are in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone,’ coast guard spokesperson Jenny Larsson told the Swedish press on Wednesday.
The other two breaches are in the Danish exclusive economic zone.
While neither pipeline was in use at the time of the suspected blasts, they were filled with gas that has been spewing out in the Baltic Sea since Monday’s ruptures.
The fourth leak was on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, in close proximity to a larger hole found on the nearby Nord Stream 1, the Swedish coast guard said.
A British defence source last night told Sky News he feared ‘underwater explosives’ could have been involved in the incidents.
Yesterday, European leaders said ‘deliberate actions’ caused the damage to the pipelines.
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen said sabotage could not be ruled out and her words were also echoed by Sweden’s acting prime minister Magdalena Andersson.
Meanwhile, Ukraine went as far as to say the natural gas leaks were a ‘terrorist attack’ by Moscow.
The Kremlin angrily denied any involvement in ‘sabotage’ adding that it was ‘absurd’ to conclude that Russia is behind any major gas leaks in the Baltic Sea.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rebuffed any suggestion his government might be behind the incident a few miles from Denmark.
‘It’s quite predictable and also predictably stupid to give voice to these kinds of narratives – predictably stupid and absurd,’ he told reporters today.
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