Sweden confirms detonation caused ruptures across Nord Stream pipeline

Sweden’s investigation of the Nord Stream pipelines have bolstered suspicions of “gross sabotage” involving detonations.

The recent ruptures in the pipeline were caused by detonations, the country’s security service has determined

Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating four leaks from the pipelines in the countries’ economic zones in the Baltic Sea since they were first spotted at the beginning of last week.

“After completing the crime scene investigation, the Swedish Security Service can conclude that there have been detonations at Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Swedish economic zone,” the Swedish Security Service said in a statement.

The security service revealed was extensive damage to the gas pipelines and that they had retrieved some material from the site that would now be analysed.

Europe has been investigating what caused the damage as the Kremlin seeks to pin the blame on the West, suggesting the US would benefit from the explosions by boosting its LNG supplies.

The US has denied any involvement as a stand-off, with Russia continuing to squeeze gas supplies into Europe.

The Nord Stream operators, which are part of Kremlin-backed gas giant Gazprom, said this week they were unable to inspect the damaged sections because of restrictions imposed by Danish and Swedish authorities who had cordoned off the area.