Sweden: Traces of explosives found at Baltic Sea pipelines
Swedish investigators found traces of explosives at the Baltic Sea site where two natural pipelines were damaged in an act of âgross sabotageâ, the prosecutor leading Swedenâs preliminary investigation said.
Mats Ljungqvist of the Swedish Prosecution Authority said investigators carefully documented the area where the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines ruptured in September.
The parallel undersea pipelines run from Russia to Germany.
âAnalysis carried out shows traces of explosives on several of the foreign objects that were foundâ at the site, Mr Ljungqvist said in a statement on Friday.
âĄïž Swedish prosecutor: Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged
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The prosecution authority said the preliminary investigation was âvery complex and comprehensiveâ and further scrutiny would show whether anyone could be charged âwith suspicion of crimeâ.
Investigators in Sweden, Denmark and Germany are looking into what happened.
Danish officials confirmed in October there was extensive damage to the pipelines caused by âpowerful explosionsâ.
The leaks occurred in international waters but within the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden.
Investigators have not given indications of who they think may be responsible.
Nord Stream 1 carried Russian gas to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August.
Nord Stream 2 never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
