Swedes want further sounding of pipeline explosions in the Baltic Sea
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – A Swedish prosecutor wants “a supplementary crime scene investigation” at the site of explosions that damaged two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, saying Friday that a preliminary investigation concluded the cause was “suspected gross sabotage.”
Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said he understood the intense interest in determining what happened to the Nord Stream I and 2 pipelines, which were built to transport Russian gas to Germany.
– But it is important both for the preliminary investigation and for the various collaborations we have that we now get to work in peace and quiet, says Ljungqvist.
Sweden’s internal security authority and the armed forces are assisting in the investigation, which is being done in collaboration with authorities in other countries, he says.
The security police have previously said that underwater “detonations” on September 26 caused extensive damage to the pipelines in international waters off Sweden and Denmark. The pipelines burst, sending large amounts of methane gas into the air.
The Swedish Navy said on Twitter that it is using minesweepers to carry out “supplementary bottom surveys” that were not part of the criminal investigation. It did not develop the nature of the work.
Investigators in Sweden, Denmark and Germany are investigating what happened. Danish and Swedish officials have said they suspected several hundred kilograms of explosives were involved in carrying out a deliberate act of sabotage.
Nord Stream 1 transported gas to Germany until Russia cut off supplies at the end of August. Nord Stream 2 was never commissioned because Germany canceled its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of attacking the pipelines, which Western nations denied.
Ljungqvist, who led Sweden’s preliminary investigation, said earlier this month that “seizures have been made at the crime scene” but gave no details.