Climate scientists described the shocking images of gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea as a “reckless release” of greenhouse gas emissions that, if deliberate, “amounts to an environmental crime.”
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Sweden’s national security service on Thursday said a criminal offense scene investigation into the gas leaks from two underwater pipelines connecting Russia to Germany “strengthened the suspicions of gross sabotage.”
Sweden’s Security Police said the investigation found there had been detonations on the Nord Stream 1 and a couple of pipelines within the Swedish exclusive economic zone, which caused “extensive damage” to the pipelines.
It added that “certain seizures have been made,” without offering further details, and that these would now be reviewed and analyzed.
“The continued preliminary investigation must show whether someone may be served with suspicion and later prosecuted,” Sweden’s Security Police said in a press release.
In a separate statement, Sweden’s Prosecutors’ Office said the world was not cordoned off.
Seismologists on Sept. 26 reported explosions within the vicinity of the weird Nord Stream gas leaks, that are situated in international waters but inside Denmark’s and Sweden’s exclusive economic zones.
Denmark’s armed forces said on the time that video footage showed the most important gas leak created a surface disturbance of roughly 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) in diameter, while the smallest leak caused a circle of roughly 200 meters. The reason for the gas leaks just isn’t yet known.
The European Union suspects sabotage, particularly because the incident comes amid a bitter energy standoff between Brussels and Moscow.
Russia has denied that it was behind the suspected attack, calling such accusations “silly.”
‘Reckless release’ of emissions
Late last month, Swedish and Danish authorities said not less than two detonations occurred underwater, damaging the pipelines and causing major leaks of gas into the Baltic Sea.
The magnitude of those explosions was measured at 2.3 and a couple of.1 on the Richter scale, respectively, they said, and sure corresponded to an explosive load of “several hundred kilos.”
Two of the leaks occurred in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone and two in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone.
Climate scientists have described the shocking images of gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea as a “reckless release” of greenhouse gas emissions that, if deliberate, “amounts to an environmental crime.”