Sweden: State actor likeliest culprit for Nord Stream pipeline sabotage
HELSINKI — Swedish prosecutors said Thursday a state actor was the most likely culprit for the explosions that incapacitated the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last year, deemed an act of sabotage. However, they cautioned that the identity of the perpetrator was still unclear and hinted it is likely to remain so.
Public prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist of the Swedish Prosecution Authority said his office’s investigation is focused on examining whether Swedish interests or Swedish security were threatened by the act.
The Swedish authorities also are keen to find out whether the explosions were prepared on their territory. “Our hope is to be able to confirm who has committed this crime” but “it should be noted that it likely will be difficult given the circumstances,” Ljungqvist said.
Last month, a German media investigation quoted unidentified officials as saying that five men and a woman used a yacht hired by a Ukrainian-owned company in Poland to carry out the attack. The Ukrainian government denied involvement.
Ljungqvist stressed that the case — Swedish prosecutors label it as “gross sabotage” — is complex and hence time consuming to investigate. The prosecutors’ office gave no estimate on when the Swedish investigation would wrap up.
“This concerns a crime whose circumstances are difficult to investigate. The detonations took place 80 meters (262 feet) under the water on the ocean floor in the Baltic Sea,” Ljungqvist said.
Separately, he told Swedish media that prosecutors’ main line of investigation is on whether a state actor was behind the explosions, given the substantial resources and skills needed to carry out such an attack.
Swedish Coast Guard via AP
A leak from the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline Sept. 28, 2022, on the surface of the Baltic Sea.
“We aren’t ruling out that there could be non-state actors capable of doing this,” Ljungqvist told the Swedish news agency TT. “But then we’re dealing with very few companies or groups. Considering all the circumstances, our main (investigation) track is that it is a state that is behind it.”
A total of four leaks were discovered on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which run from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, on Sept. 26 and 27 respectively.
Two of the leaks were in the Swedish economic zone, northeast of the Danish island of Bornholm, and two in the Danish economic zone, southeast of Bornholm. Both Swedish and Danish seismic measurements showed that explosions took place a few hours before the leaks were discovered.
Authorities and investigators in Denmark, Sweden and other countries early on suspected the explosions were deliberate attacks and consider them sabotage. The pipelines were not operational at the time, due to disputes between Russia and the European Union amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The United States and some of its allies have long criticized the pipelines, warning that they posed a risk to Europe’s energy security by increasing the continent’s dependence on Russian gas.
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeAlexander Zemlianichenko
FILE - People are seen through a window inside a restaurant at Patriarshiye Prudy with the word on the wall reads "Patriki" which means Patriarch's Ponds, a hip restaurants and bars district in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 10, 2023. Russia has weathered sweeping Western economic sanctions better than many expected. Economic life for everyday Russians hasn't changed that much, with familiar imported goods either still available or replaced by local knockoffs. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Alexander ZemlianichenkoFILE - People are seen through a window inside a restaurant at Patriarshiye Prudy with the word on the wall reads "Patriki" which means Patriarch's Ponds, a hip restaurants and bars district in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 10, 2023. Russia has weathered sweeping Western economic sanctions better than many expected. Economic life for everyday Russians hasn't changed that much, with familiar imported goods either still available or replaced by local knockoffs. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeSTR
FILE - The tanker Sun Arrows loads its cargo of liquefied natural gas from the Sakhalin-2 project in the port of Prigorodnoye, Russia, on Oct. 29, 2021. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo, File)
STRFILE - The tanker Sun Arrows loads its cargo of liquefied natural gas from the Sakhalin-2 project in the port of Prigorodnoye, Russia, on Oct. 29, 2021. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo, File)
-
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeSTF
FILE - A view of the business tower Lakhta Centre, the headquarters of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 27, 2022. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo, File)
STFFILE - A view of the business tower Lakhta Centre, the headquarters of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in St. Petersburg, Russia, on April 27, 2022. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo, File)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeSTR
FILE - An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis complex, part of Chernomortransneft JSC, a subsidiary of Transneft PJSC, in Novorossiysk, Russia, on Oct. 11, 2022, one of the largest facilities for oil and petroleum products in southern Russia. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. (AP Photo, File)
STRFILE - An oil tanker is moored at the Sheskharis complex, part of Chernomortransneft JSC, a subsidiary of Transneft PJSC, in Novorossiysk, Russia, on Oct. 11, 2022, one of the largest facilities for oil and petroleum products in southern Russia. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. (AP Photo, File)
-
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeIvan Sekretarev
FILE - Russian state-run Sberbank headquarters in downtown Moscow, Russia on July 29, 2014. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
Ivan SekretarevFILE - Russian state-run Sberbank headquarters in downtown Moscow, Russia on July 29, 2014. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeAlexander Zemlianichenko
FILE - People line up to visit a newly opened restaurant in a former McDonald's outlet in Bolshaya Bronnaya Street in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 25, 2023. Crowds might have thinned at some Moscow malls, but not drastically. Some foreign companies like McDonald's and Starbucks have been taken over by local owners who slapped different names on essentially the same menu. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Alexander ZemlianichenkoFILE - People line up to visit a newly opened restaurant in a former McDonald's outlet in Bolshaya Bronnaya Street in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 25, 2023. Crowds might have thinned at some Moscow malls, but not drastically. Some foreign companies like McDonald's and Starbucks have been taken over by local owners who slapped different names on essentially the same menu. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
-
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeSTR
FILE - People wait in a line to pay for her purchases at the IKEA store on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, on March 3, 2022. Furniture and home goods remaining after IKEA exited Russia are being sold off on the Yandex website. (AP Photo, File)
STRFILE - People wait in a line to pay for her purchases at the IKEA store on the outskirts of Moscow, Russia, on March 3, 2022. Furniture and home goods remaining after IKEA exited Russia are being sold off on the Yandex website. (AP Photo, File)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeSergey Guneyev
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at a news conference following a meeting of the State Council at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 22, 2022. Russia's economy has weathered the West's unprecedented economic sanctions far better than expected. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (Sergey Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
Sergey GuneyevFILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at a news conference following a meeting of the State Council at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 22, 2022. Russia's economy has weathered the West's unprecedented economic sanctions far better than expected. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (Sergey Guneyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
-
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeEkaterina Shtukina
FILE - Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, second left, accompanied by Russian Presidential Envoy to Ural Federal District Vladimir Yakushev, left, visits the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2022. Russia has weathered sweeping Western economic sanctions better than many expected. (Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP, File)
Ekaterina ShtukinaFILE - Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, second left, accompanied by Russian Presidential Envoy to Ural Federal District Vladimir Yakushev, left, visits the Uralvagonzavod factory in Nizhny Tagil in Nizhny Tagil, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2022. Russia has weathered sweeping Western economic sanctions better than many expected. (Ekaterina Shtukina, Sputnik, Government Pool Photo via AP, File)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeAlexander Zemlianichenko
A view of the Audi Center Altufievo one of 36 dealerships of Avtodom in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2023. The auto industry is facing bigger hurdles to adapt. Western automakers, including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have left Russia. Foreign cars are still available but far fewer of them and for higher prices, said Andrei Olkhovsky, CEO of Avtodom, which has 36 dealerships in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Alexander ZemlianichenkoA view of the Audi Center Altufievo one of 36 dealerships of Avtodom in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2023. The auto industry is facing bigger hurdles to adapt. Western automakers, including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have left Russia. Foreign cars are still available but far fewer of them and for higher prices, said Andrei Olkhovsky, CEO of Avtodom, which has 36 dealerships in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
-
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeSTR
People walk past a Sviaznoy mobile phone shop in a shopping mall in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2023. Apple has stopped selling products in Russia, but Wildberries, the country's biggest online retailer, offers the iPhone 14 for about the same price as in Europe. Online retailer Svaznoy lists Apple AirPods Pro. (AP Photo)
STRPeople walk past a Sviaznoy mobile phone shop in a shopping mall in St. Petersburg, Russia, Friday, March 10, 2023. Apple has stopped selling products in Russia, but Wildberries, the country's biggest online retailer, offers the iPhone 14 for about the same price as in Europe. Online retailer Svaznoy lists Apple AirPods Pro. (AP Photo)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeAlexander Zemlianichenko
FILE - Few visitors pass inside the GUM department store with lots of boutiques closed due to sanctions in Moscow, Russia, on June 1, 2022. U.S. officials say Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the world. But as the war nears its one-year mark, it's clear the sanctions didn't pack the instantaneous punch that many had hoped. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Alexander ZemlianichenkoFILE - Few visitors pass inside the GUM department store with lots of boutiques closed due to sanctions in Moscow, Russia, on June 1, 2022. U.S. officials say Russia is now the most sanctioned country in the world. But as the war nears its one-year mark, it's clear the sanctions didn't pack the instantaneous punch that many had hoped. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
-
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeKirill Zykov
New made "Moskvich" cars are seen at the assembly shop of Moscow Automobile Plant "Moskvich" with the banner reads: "Moskvich (Muscovite) returns" in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. The auto industry is facing bigger hurdles to adapt. Russia launched production of the Moskvich car brand at a plant near Moscow given up by the French carmaker Renault, with a new, modern Chinese design that barely resembles the Soviet-era classic. (Kirill Zykov, Moscow News Agency via AP)
Kirill ZykovNew made "Moskvich" cars are seen at the assembly shop of Moscow Automobile Plant "Moskvich" with the banner reads: "Moskvich (Muscovite) returns" in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. The auto industry is facing bigger hurdles to adapt. Russia launched production of the Moskvich car brand at a plant near Moscow given up by the French carmaker Renault, with a new, modern Chinese design that barely resembles the Soviet-era classic. (Kirill Zykov, Moscow News Agency via AP)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeIlya Pitalev
FILE - Employees of the Almaz-Antey Corporation's Obukhov Plant work at its assembly shop in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Jan. 18, 2023. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. The boon helped bolster the ruble after a temporary post-invasion crash and provided cash for government spending on pensions, salaries and — above all — the military. (Ilya Pitalev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
Ilya PitalevFILE - Employees of the Almaz-Antey Corporation's Obukhov Plant work at its assembly shop in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Jan. 18, 2023. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. The boon helped bolster the ruble after a temporary post-invasion crash and provided cash for government spending on pensions, salaries and — above all — the military. (Ilya Pitalev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
-
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeDmitry Serebryakov
A view of the Dealership Mercedes-Benz "Avilon" in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 11, 2023. The auto industry is facing bigger hurdles to adapt. Western automakers, including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have left Russia, but foreign cars are still available but far fewer of them and for higher prices. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)
Dmitry SerebryakovA view of the Dealership Mercedes-Benz "Avilon" in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 11, 2023. The auto industry is facing bigger hurdles to adapt. Western automakers, including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have left Russia, but foreign cars are still available but far fewer of them and for higher prices. (AP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeDmitri Lovetsky
FILE - Newly built nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural, third of five icebreakers of Project 22220, begins its passage from the Baltiysky Shipyard to the northern city of Murmansk, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Nov. 23, 2022. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
Dmitri LovetskyFILE - Newly built nuclear-powered icebreaker Ural, third of five icebreakers of Project 22220, begins its passage from the Baltiysky Shipyard to the northern city of Murmansk, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Nov. 23, 2022. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
-
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeAlexander Zemlianichenko
FILE - A logo of a newly opened Stars Coffee in the former location of a Starbucks in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 24, 2023. Crowds might have thinned at some Moscow malls, but not drastically. Some foreign companies like McDonald's and Starbucks have been taken over by local owners who slapped different names on essentially the same menu. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Alexander ZemlianichenkoFILE - A logo of a newly opened Stars Coffee in the former location of a Starbucks in Moscow, Russia, on Jan. 24, 2023. Crowds might have thinned at some Moscow malls, but not drastically. Some foreign companies like McDonald's and Starbucks have been taken over by local owners who slapped different names on essentially the same menu. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeSTR
FILE - New vehicles Gazelle are parked in the territory of the Gorky Automobile plant (GAZ), one of the main budget-forming enterprises in the region in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, on Aug. 11, 2022. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo, File)
STRFILE - New vehicles Gazelle are parked in the territory of the Gorky Automobile plant (GAZ), one of the main budget-forming enterprises in the region in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, on Aug. 11, 2022. After a year of far-reaching sanctions aimed at degrading Moscow's war chest, economic life for ordinary Russians doesn't look all that different than it did before the invasion of Ukraine. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo, File)
-
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeAlexander Zemlianichenko
FILE - People line up to enter an H&M shop and buy items on sale in the Aviapark shopping mall in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 9, 2022. Russians are snapping up While 191 foreign companies have left Russia and 1,169 are working to do so, some 1,223 are staying and 496 are taking a wait-and-see approach, according to a database compiled by the Kyiv School of Economics. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
Alexander ZemlianichenkoFILE - People line up to enter an H&M shop and buy items on sale in the Aviapark shopping mall in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 9, 2022. Russians are snapping up While 191 foreign companies have left Russia and 1,169 are working to do so, some 1,223 are staying and 496 are taking a wait-and-see approach, according to a database compiled by the Kyiv School of Economics. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
-
Wall Street falls on new bank fears; bond yields plungeDmitri Lovetsky
FILE - Men walk at the Nokian Tyres tire manufacturing plant in Vsevolozhsk, outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 29, 2022. Russia's economy has weathered the West's unprecedented economic sanctions far better than expected. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
Dmitri LovetskyFILE - Men walk at the Nokian Tyres tire manufacturing plant in Vsevolozhsk, outside St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 29, 2022. Russia's economy has weathered the West's unprecedented economic sanctions far better than expected. But with restrictions finally tightening on the Kremlin's chief moneymaker — oil — the months ahead will be an even tougher test of President Vladimir Putin's fortress economy. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
Categories: World News
