Thread by @thetimes

🔺 NEW: A suspected Russian sabotage attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines was “probably premeditated and planned for” using an explosive device dropped into the sea weeks before it was detonated, according to a British defence source

thetimes.co.uk/article/russia…

The European Union and Nato have described the large blasts in the Baltic Sea as a “deliberate act” of sabotage, with Russia labelled by Poland and Ukraine as the culprit, even as investigations continue

The concrete and steel pipelines were torn open by apparent underwater explosions as strong as a minor earthquake, leading to three large gas leaks east of the Danish island of Bornholm thetimes.co.uk/article/gas-le…

The blasts occurred in international waters, just beyond the territories of Denmark and Norway, and shockwaves were detected as far as 800 miles away

The most likely scenario, according to the UK source, was Russia secretly delivered an autonomous underwater vehicle with a payload to separate locations on the pipelines built to carry Russian natural gas to Europe

They said the underwater vehicle could have been launched off a small vessel such as a fishing boat months ago and then explosive devices dropped next to the pipeline

“They could sit there for months waiting to be told to explode,” the source said.

They said the device could then be initiated, possibly by using a noise source of a certain frequency which could be dropped into the water at a time of Russia’s choosing

Björn Lund, a member of the Swedish seismic network, told the state broadcaster SVT he guessed more than 100kg of dynamite or TNT would be needed to cause such large explosions

Both pipes are leaking gas into the Baltic Sea after suffering severe damage, scuppering any remaining hopes of Nord Stream 1 returning to service this winter, and potentially leaving both pipelines out of action indefinitely

🗣️ “If it is them [the Russians], I think they’ve pulled out a blinder. Russia has absolutely no influence over the West except for this one gift — gas,” the source added

However, the Kremlin insisted today it was “stupid and absurd” to blame Russia after Ukraine denounced a “terrorist attack” by Moscow

“It’s quite predictable and also predictably stupid to give voice to these kinds of narratives — predictably stupid and absurd,” President Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters

Read more here: thetimes.co.uk/article/russia…