In a non-surprising move, investigators have found traces of explosives on fragments of the Nord Stream pipelines. The pipeline was sabotaged, which was obvious from the very first day, but now there is a firm proof of it.
Nord Stream 1 pipeline was used to pump natural gas from Russia to Germany until several months ago. For many years it was the main way of gas supply for the Germans and a source of income for the most advanced European economy. The pipeline is located at the bottom of Baltic Sea and runs partly through Swedish waters.
In September, several explosions were recorded shortly after each other, after which gas bubbled up for days. That’s not the way an ordinary disaster works. Sabotage is being confirmed now that traces of explosives have been found.
The investigation is still ongoing. Who placed the explosives is the main question and the answer is politically challenging. It was definitely a complex operation, not an act of some criminal sabotage. State actors are prime and only suspects. It does not seem logical that Russia sabotaged its own pipeline. So, excluding it, the only power benefited from Nord Stream demise is well inside the Western bloc. Swedes will not acknowledge it, so the scope of the whole investigation is rather symbolic.
