Leaks in Nord Stream pipeline ‘not an accident’

While European governments have not yet identified the cause of the leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines, several political leaders, including Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s Prime Minister, and two top EU officials, have said they were unlikely to have been accidental.

For one thing, three leaks, miles apart, seem unlikely to be random occurrences. And these pipelines are not fragile constructions. They are robustly built of steel, coated with concrete, to withstand the water pressures on the floor of the Baltic Sea as they carry natural gas from Russia to Germany.

Officials in Poland and Ukraine, among others, have pointed the finger at Russia, whose state-controlled energy company, Gazprom, is the main owner of the pipelines. On Wednesday, the Kremlin called suggestions of Russian involvement “stupid”.