The damage to the gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia is said to have been deliberately caused. Apparently a Russian ship previously mapped the pipeline. It has already been linked to the Nord Stream attacks.
The most important things at a glance
An incident on a gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia put authorities on alert on Sunday. The pipeline operating companies reported an unusual drop in pressure in the gas pipeline. As a result, the companies stopped transporting gas between the two EU states, as the German Press Agency writes.
The situation surrounding the pipeline between Estonia and Finland is still unclear. t-online has summarized what is known so far.
What do we know about the Baltic Sea incident?
On Sunday morning, the operating company Gasgrid reported an unusual drop in pressure in the Balticconnector pipeline. It is now clear that the pressure loss is due to a leak in the pipeline. The affected offshore section in the sea is a good 77 kilometers long, as the German Press Agency writes.
Finnish Prime Minister Sauli Niinistö had already spoken of targeted action on Tuesday. In addition to the pipeline, a telecommunications cable was also damaged in the incident, as the French news agency AFP writes.
The pipe itself is covered with concrete. It looks like someone ripped it out from the side and the concrete cracked or fell off at that point.
Jüri Saska, commander of the Estonian Navy
The Finnish President had already announced joint investigations with the responsible authorities in Estonia on Tuesday. “It is clear to see that this damage was caused by a fairly strong force,” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said on Wednesday. The Estonian operator Elering said it has already been ruled out that the mechanical damage to the pipeline was caused by a violent storm. Here you can read more about it.
The “damage to underwater infrastructure” was “taken seriously,” said Niinistö. The Norwegian seismological research facility Norsar reinforces Niinistö’s suspicions. Researchers at the institute had recorded signs of a possible explosion near the pipeline at the time the Balticconnector pipeline was damaged. The institute announced further analyzes on Tuesday.
Who could have an interest in destroying the pipeline?
Similar to the Nord Stream leaks last year, a possible cause of the damage is not yet known. Estonia’s Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur recently spoke of a deliberate action.
“It is clear that Russia has a motive. The Kremlin threatened to retaliate if Finland joined NATO after the all-out invasion of Ukraine,” speculates the liberal Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter. Finland only joined the defense alliance in the spring.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin commented on the pipeline incident. A Kremlin spokesman called the events “alarming,” as the Russian news agency Interfax writes.
Sabotage by Russia?
Scandinavian media also brought another Russian ship into focus, which had been operating at the crime scenes several months before the explosions, as satellite images and intercepted radio messages showed. The approximately 86 meter long “Sibiryakov” is a hydrographic research vessel equipped for underwater operations and often accompanies Russian submarines in the Baltic Sea.
For this purpose, it is equipped, among other things, with a mini submarine. According to the research, it is part of a large-scale effort by the Kremlin to map NATO’s critical infrastructure.
Report confirms position of Russian ship
It is now known that she apparently stayed in the area of the new leak on the Balticconnector three times this year for several days. This is suggested by a report from the Polish security company Rochan Consulting, which, among other things, tracks the movements of the Russian fleet in the Baltics. The report is available to t-online and is again based on intercepted radio signals, so-called weather and position reports, as Miłosz Gapiński from Rochan Consulting explained to t-online.
