Exclusive
Status: 02/16/2023 6:00 p.m
Since the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea in 2022, the police, secret services and judicial authorities in several European countries have been investigating. What have the German investigators found out so far?
The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) is used to difficult investigations. Criminalists have already collected evidence against terrorists, drug smugglers and war criminals around the world – in the Balkans, Pakistan, Tunisia, Rwanda, Colombia, Iraq and Congo. Since last year, however, the BKA has been dealing with a crime scene that has never existed in the 70-year history of the police authority – the seabed of the Baltic Sea.
On September 26, 2022, between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., an explosion ruptured a tube of the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, which is still under construction, not far from the Danish island of Bornholm. A few hours later, the second explosion took place more than 60 kilometers away. This time it hit both tubes of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, through which gas has been flowing from Russia to Germany for years. Although the pipelines were not in operation, they still contained gas. And so the Baltic Sea began to bubble for days.
Early suspicion: sabotage
An accident as the cause of the explosions was quickly ruled out. Instead, experts and government agencies suspected that it was probably sabotage. But who is behind it? Russia was quick to deny any responsibility. The Kremlin spoke of a terrorist attack. In the meantime, Ukraine and the USA have also been suspected. Both states were accused of having a major interest in Putin being unable to sell gas to Europe.
In fact, in the summer of 2022, the CIA sent out a warning to European partner services that there were indications that Ukrainians were trying to get a boat in Sweden to attack the Nord Stream pipelines. The US secret service, however, assessed the credibility of this information as low.
“We will not be intimidated by the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines,” said Justice Minister Marco Buschmann. “The German authorities, together with our European partners, will clarify who is responsible for the sabotage on the lines.”
Since the incident last September, the police, secret services and judicial authorities have been investigating in several European countries. Investigations have been initiated in Denmark, Sweden and also in Germany, but there is no joint investigative team. Sweden had not agreed to this proposal. Instead, each country now determines for itself.
Attorney General takes over
In Germany, the Federal Public Prosecutor in Karlsruhe initiated investigations into the pipeline attacks at the beginning of October 2022. The suspicion is in dry legalese: suspicion of intentionally causing an explosive device explosion and anti-constitutional sabotage.
The BKA was commissioned to find out what exactly happened on the seabed near Bornholm, in the Danish and Swedish economic zone – and who was responsible for the act of sabotage. The “Nord Stream” procedure is being processed by the state security department in Meckenheim near Bonn. These investigators are otherwise responsible for cases of espionage and state terrorism.
In recent years, for example, they have been involved with the so-called “Tiergarten murder,” in which a hitman working for the Russian secret service shot a Chechen exile in Berlin. A crime like the attack on the gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea is also new territory for the BKA specialists.
Difficult investigations at the crime scene
It is above all the crime scene on the high seas that has caused some problems for the criminalists. After all, the Nord Stream pipelines run in a water depth of 70 to 80 meters. Investigators have been on the spot several times. The federal police and the armed forces provided administrative assistance with ships. However, the first problems arose early on – not only because of the difficult conditions under water, but also because of the pitfalls of German bureaucracy.
Although divers from the federal police were already on site with a ship at the end of September 2022, they did not dive down to the damaged pipelines. At first it was said that the necessary equipment had not been brought with them during the reconnaissance trip.
Regulation prevents dive
In fact, the reasons are much more mundane: although the Baltic Sea is comparatively shallow, German police divers are simply not allowed to work at such depths. According to police regulation 415 (“diving service”), only dives up to a maximum of 50 meters are permitted, as a spokesman for the Federal Police confirms when asked. And at the same time notes: “Even if a diver does not dive, he can very well be of some use on site.”
Finally, technology helped. The federal police were able to take the first pictures of the crime scene with an underwater drone from the Bundeswehr. Large holes could be seen that gaped in the tubes of the Nord Stream pipelines, some of which were torn open over a length of around 50 meters.
Administrative assistance from researchers
At the end of October 2022, the BKA investigators set sail on behalf of the Federal Public Prosecutor – this time with the civil research ship “Alkor” from Kiel and secured by the ship “Bamberg” of the Federal Police from Rostock. The operation east of Bornholm lasted several days.
The scientists of the “Alkor” happened to be involved in an EU project researching the effects of World War II ammunition and explosives dumped in the Baltic Sea. Now the Attorney General asked the researchers for help. Soil and water samples were taken around the damaged gas pipelines and debris was recovered using an underwater robot and underwater drones.
Apparently used military explosives
The BKA explosives experts have meanwhile forensically examined the evidence from the seabed. According to information from WDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” there are supposed to be indications that an explosive was used in the attacks, which is mainly used in the military sector. In addition, the investigators should now have knowledge that the explosions were probably not caused by projectiles such as torpedoes, but very likely by explosive devices that were attached to the outside of the tubes.
According to the current status of the investigation, however, it is not possible to say who is responsible for the explosion. So far, the German investigations have not provided any evidence that Russia is the author, Federal Public Prosecutor Peter Frank recently told Welt am Sonntag. “This cannot be proven at the moment, the investigations are ongoing,” said the Karlsruhe chief prosecutor. Frank said they are in contact with the law enforcement authorities in Denmark and Sweden.
Sweden continues to wall
However, the Swedish authorities in particular had rejected joint European investigations. The responsible public prosecutor’s office in Stockholm announced in November 2022 that there was evidence of a sabotage attack and that the explosives used had also been identified.
In German security circles, it is said that there are probably more extensive findings in Sweden, but these have not yet been shared with foreign authorities. Even in Sweden, this classified information, which is said to have come from the SÄPO intelligence service, has apparently not yet been made available to the police and judiciary there in full.
In Germany, too, the secret services are involved in investigating the pipeline explosions and support the BKA. The Federal Intelligence Service (BND), for example, evaluated which ships and planes were in the vicinity in the days and weeks before. In addition, the activities at Russian military bases, such as in Kaliningrad, were evaluated. But so far without a hot lead.