RDAF F-16 aircraft flew over the gas leaks from Russian pipelines to Europe.
Two leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines are causing concern across Europe amid fears of sabotage. Sweden’s Maritime Authority said on Sept. 27, 2022, that it had issued a warning of two leaks on the Russian-owned Nord Stream 1 pipeline in Swedish and Danish waters, shortly after a leak on the nearby defunct Nord Stream 2 project was discovered, Reuters reported.
“There are two leaks on Nord Stream 1 – one in Swedish economic zone and one in Danish economic zone. They are very near each other,” a Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) spokesperson told Reuters.
With its two parallel 1,224 km-long pipelines Nord Stream 1, is the largest single supply route for the Russian gas to Europe, running from Vyborg, Russia to the exit point in Lubmin, Germany. The pipeline has been running at 20% since the end of August, after Russia had cut its capacity blaming the late return of equipment held up in Canada because of sanctions.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline leaks are ~75 kilometers apart (so, two very distinctive incidents). The Danish military has dropped 3 beacons over the leaks to signal the danger. You can see them here via @MarineTraffic data (red circle).
My latest: https://t.co/r9IMnMrYl7 pic.twitter.com/El6J9gNjXp
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) September 27, 2022
“NATO is closely monitoring the situation in the Baltic Sea. The allies are examining the circumstances of the gas leaks and exchanging information, including with Finland and Sweden.” This was announced by an official of the Atlantic Alliance heard by ANSA news agency.
While the leaks are being investigated, the Danish Armed Forces have released a video and photographs taken by RDAF (Royal Danish Air Force) F-16s, showing disturbance in the surface of the sea: the bubbles boiling up to the surface of the sea are quite evident. According to the Danish authorities the disturbance is over 1 km in diameter.
Billeder fra F-16 af gaslækage i Østersøen. https://t.co/OgCDfcvTjG pic.twitter.com/D5wsoXvuda
— Forsvaret (@forsvaretdk) September 27, 2022
Although the cause of the leaks is unknown at the moment and no evidence has been cited, both European nations and Russia seem to blame sabotage. “Today we faced an act of sabotage, we don’t know all the details of what happened, but we see clearly that it’s an act of sabotage, related to the next step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine,” Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said sabotage could not be ruled out.
The Kremlin defines the decrease in pressure on the lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline “an unprecedented situation that requires urgent investigation”. This was stated by the spokesman of the Kremlin Dmitri Peskov, according to reports from TASS. The Kremlin does not rule out that “the destruction of the lines of the Nord Stream pipeline may be the result of sabotage”, Peskov said, adding that “the emergency on the Nord Stream lines is a problem that undermined the continent’s energy security”.
Besides the official claims, most experts believe a sabotage operation, committed only by a state actor, by means of navy divers or with a submarine could be the cause of the leaks. The following thread provides some interesting details about the Russian underwater sabotage capabilities – although, it’s worth highlighting, at the moment there’s no evidence it was a Russian false flag to fuel greater insecurity and drive up gas prices even further.
*** NORD STREAM 2 incident ***
/Thread
I am getting a lot of questions re #Russian underwater sabotage capabilities due to the leak on the #NordStream2 pipeline off Denmark.
I do not have time to respond to media right now (sorry)
So just lay out some background reference. pic.twitter.com/0UIyCq3XoV
— H I Sutton (@CovertShores) September 27, 2022
