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SWEDEN’S DOMESTIC SECURITY agency has said its preliminary investigation of leaks from two Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea “has strengthened the suspicions of serious sabotage” as the cause.
The Swedish Security Service said the probe confirmed that “detonations” caused extensive damage to the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines last week.
Authorities had said when the leaks off Sweden and Denmark first surfaced that explosions were recorded in the area.
The agency did not give details about its investigation, but in a separate statement Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said: “Seizures have been made at the crime scene and these will now be investigated.”
Ljungqvist, who led the preliminary investigation, did not identify the seized evidence, but he said now that the initial inquiry has been completed, a blockade around the pipelines off Sweden will be lifted.
The governments of Denmark and Sweden previously said they suspected that several hundred pounds of explosives were involved in carrying out a deliberate act of sabotage. The leaks from Nord Stream 1 and 2 discharged large amounts of methane into the air.
Ljungqvist called it “a serious incident” and said “the case is very sensitive”. He declined to elaborate, saying there is “pre-trial confidentiality”.
Last week, undersea explosions ruptured Nord Stream 1 and its sister pipeline, Nord Stream 2, at two locations off Sweden and two off Denmark. The pipelines were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of attacking the pipelines, which the United States and its allies vehemently denied.
Danish authorities said the two leaks they were monitoring in international waters stopped over the weekend. One of the leaks off Sweden also appeared to have ended.
Copenhagen police were leading Denmark’s inquiry in co-operation with energy authorities, the National Police and the Danish Police Intelligence Service.
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And here was me cursing at the rain this morning before I left the house.
I dont know the facts but when says rugby world cup was forced to cancel several games you have to doubt everything else is valid. Can these news agencies not just report the facts. The story is already bad enough without adding to it. (3 games were cancelled)
@Doire: Not meaning to be pedantic. But does “several” not mean more than 2 but not many? Considering that the article is not specifically about the rugby world cup state of play, it’s not an unreasonable statement in an article about a typhoon.
@Paraic: a few i take to mean 3-6, several too mean 7+. My way of thinking is that its the biggest thing happening in the area the typhoon is hitting could we at not at least expect to get basic facts correct.
@Doire: Then your understanding of the word is factually incorrect.
It means “being more than two but fewer than many in number or kind”.
The article did get the basic facts correct.
Another one is at 35, more than “several” people have been killed which is far more important than a lack of understanding of a single word.
@Reuben Gray: and far more important than the cancellation of several games of rugby. Thinking of the Japanese people affected and wishing them a speedy recovery.
@Doire: Clearly your understanding of the English language is limited, as there are several grammatical errors in your comment.
have your say