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Nord Stream investigators have uncovered traces of subsea explosives from a yacht, according to European diplomats who spoke to the United Nations Security Council. Sweden, Denmark, and Germany have been jointly investigating the Nord Stream incident.
Just who is responsible for the explosives being there or for the Nord Stream sabotage is still unknown.
The findings most closely back German media’s March reports that six individuals hired by a Ukrainian company in Poland were responsible for the attacks. Other theories of who was behind the pipeline explosion remain, including that the United States or Russia was behind the sabotage.
German federal prosecutors did confirm earlier this year that a January search of a boat raised suspicions that it had been used to transport explosives that were later used in the pipeline sabotage.
The investigation will continue in hopes of narrowing down the perpetrators and the motives behind the attack.
The Nord Stream pipelines were sabotaged in late September 2022, with Swedish authorities concluding that leaks had been the result of detonations that were likely the result of “serious sabotage”.
Nord Stream 1 was carrying gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea, while Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation after Germany axed the certification process following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia, for its part, shut down Nord Stream 1 indefinitely in early September, claiming an inability to repair gas turbines because of the Western sanctions.
Russia is expected to seal up and mothball the ruptured Nord Stream natural gas pipelines damaged in the sabotage, with relations with the West not expected to improve anytime soon, with no plans to either put them to use or repair them in the near future.
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By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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Julianne Geiger is a veteran editor, writer and researcher for Oilprice.com, and a member of the Creative Professionals Networking Group.
The whole world knows who the real culprit behind the sabotage act. It is one with a motive, an economic benefit and a strategic objective. These three descriptions fit the United States like a hand in a glove.
Dr Mamdouh G Salameh
International Oil Economist
Global Energy Expert