Status: 09/30/2022 3:47 p.m
Denmark and Sweden have submitted a report on the leaks in the pipelines. After that there were at least two explosions under water with an “explosive charge of several hundred kilograms”. Russia’s President Putin blamed the West.
Denmark and Sweden forwarded updated information to the Council ahead of the UN Security Council’s emergency debate on the Nord Stream gas pipeline leaks in the Baltic Sea.
At least two explosions happened underwater, the two Scandinavian countries wrote in a letter. Seismological institutes have measured a strength of 2.3 and 2.1, which “probably corresponds to an explosive charge of several hundred kilograms”. All available information indicated that the explosions were deliberate.
Two leaks each occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden, and the gas rising from them covered areas several hundred meters on the surface. On the Swedish side, these would have had a radius of around 900 and 200 meters on Thursday, and on the Danish side of around 555 and 680 meters, respectively.
Operator: gas exit until October 2nd
The operator of Nord Stream 1 has come to the conclusion that the gas leak from the pipeline will last until October 2nd. A similar assessment of Nord Stream 2 is still pending.
The Swedish Coast Guard meanwhile observed that the gas leak above the smaller of the two leaks via Nord Stream 2 had decreased in size. Ships in the areas now keep a safe distance of seven nautical miles (almost 13 kilometers) instead of five nautical miles as before.
Putin blames West for damage
Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the West for the leaks. “They (the Anglo-Saxons) have resorted to sabotage. Unbelievable, but true. By organizing explosions on the international Nord Stream gas pipelines (…) they have in fact started destroying the common European energy infrastructure”, Putin said at a ceremony to annex several Ukrainian territories.
The term “Anglo-Saxons” in Russian can mean the Americans, the British, or both nations together. Putin had previously spoken of an “act of international terrorism” with regard to the leaks, but did not name any possible masterminds.