Explained | One year on, what we know about attackers who sabotaged Nord Stream pipelines

On September 26 of last year, a series of explosions that severely damaged Nord Stream pipelines shook the world, throwing Russia’s energy ties with Europe into jeopardy.

Now, scientists investigating the explosions have unveiled key details to the Guardian, putting light on events that still remain unresolved.

According to the details, after two initial explosions that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, additional explosions took place in an area north-east of the Danish Baltic island of Bornholm.

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According to seismologists at Norway’s data centre Norsar, they found traces of four explosions in total. One of them took place in south-east of Bornholm and three in north-east of the island.

The explosions resulted in damage to both Nord Stream 1 pipelines and one of the Nord Stream 2 pipelines. Swedish investigators confirmed last November that these breaches were a result of man-made explosives.

Ukraine-based groups involved

Ongoing investigations indicate that either a Ukrainian-backed group or a pro-Ukrainian group operating “independently” of Kyiv's leadership carried out the attacks, according to statements from officials in the US and Germany.

Watch:Environmental impact of Nord stream leaks

German investigators have focused their attention on a 51-foot rental yacht named the Andromeda, chartered by a mysterious crew consisting of five men and one woman, some of whom were using false passports.

According to German media, all evidence point to Kyiv’s involvement only. But obvious doubts emerge as it still deems unbelievable that a small crew of six people managed to blow up the pipelines which may have required challenging tasks, including deep and slow dives.

Prior intel was available

A leaked US defence document, as reported by the Washington Post, revealed that the CIA had received information in June 2022 from a European ally about a plan by six members of Ukraine's special operations forces to rent a boat and use a submersible vehicle for underwater activities aimed at sabotaging the pipelines. However, the document noted that this planned operation had been put on hold.

Some reports also emerged in Scandinavian media suggesting the presence of Russian ships with deactivated transponders near the blast sites in the days preceding the explosions.

About Nord Stream pipelines

It's worth noting that the Nord Stream pipelines are managed by two companies, Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG, both predominantly owned by the Russian state energy firm Gazprom.

While Nord Stream 1 has been operational since 2012, Nord Stream 2 was completed in September 2021 but has yet to transport any gas. Controversy has surrounded Nord Stream 2 right from the beginning, with strong opposition from German allies, particularly the US and Poland, who were concerned about Europe's reliance on Russian energy supplies.

UN investigation

In July, the UN Security Council received a report stating that investigators had detected underwater explosives in samples taken from a yacht. However, they failed to establish the identities or motivations of the individuals responsible or whether a specific nation was behind the incident.

To shed light on the situation, seismologists harnessed data from various seismic stations in northern Europe and Germany, including the Swedish National Seismic Network and the Danish stations located on Bornholm. Employing sophisticated analytical methods, they were able to locate two additional explosions.

According to their calculations, the second and third detonations, referred to as NA and NB, were situated approximately 220 meters apart, with the third explosion occurring to the west of the second. Furthermore, the fourth explosion was located several kilometres southwest of the second blast.

Accusations by Russia

Russia upholds that the sabotage was carried out by agents of the US and Ukraine. "They are involved, one way or another, in this terrorist attack," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a regular news briefing in response to a question about the September 2022 blasts, without providing any evidence.

As per international law, the act of sabotaging the pipelines would amount to an illegal act since the Nord Stream pipeline is a civilian infrastructure project. According to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, destroying civilian infrastructure is not only a violation of international law, but a war crime.

What next?

Swedish investigators say that they hope to conclude the ongoing investigation into the sabotage by year-end. According to a prosecutor quoted by Reuters, once the investigation is done, it will be decided whether to bring any charges or not.

"We hope to conclude the investigation shortly but there is still a lot to do and nothing will happen for the next four weeks," Mats Ljungqvist said in an interview.

"By conclude, I mean that we close the investigation or take a decision to bring charges against someone," he said, adding that the ambition was to reach a decision before the end of the year.

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