By Al Ahed Staff, Agencies
Following the explosions of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines underneath the Baltic Sea on September 26, states such as Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, and the United States were speculated to be the culprits. However, according to the Russian defense ministry, new investigations showed that Britain was behind the sabotage, which is expected to strain ties between the European Union and the UK.
The continuation of the Ukraine conflict pushed the economic war of the West against Russia into a new phase, including the sabotage of gas transfer pipelines.
The explosions seemed to be a complicated military operation by several players. Swedish seismologists estimated that some 700 kilograms of TNT were used for the destruction of the two pipelines, which were laid at the depth of 60 meters into the sea.
The Russian authorities said that the explosions were terrorist attacks. Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, said that the release of the names of the perpetrators of the attacks will surprise the European countries.
Some European officials and media outlets were of the opinion that Ukraine or their supporters carried out the attacks, while Kyiv announced that the gas leak is nothing but a preplanned terrorist attack by Russia against the European Union.
Some others speculated that the US was behind the sabotage, arguing that the Americans did not conduct the attacks without Germany's green light.
The Cradle analytical website pointed the finger at Poland, writing that the Polish navy and special forces conducted the operation with the technical support of the United States, Denmark, and Sweden.
After one month, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation declared that Britain played a role in the terrorist attack, arguing that the naval forces of the UK were behind the explosions at the pipelines.
According to the ministry's statement, "According to available information, representatives of this unit of the British Navy took part in the planning, provision, and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year – blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines."
Experts believe that Britain should pay a high price for the sabotage because the destruction of the pipelines caused severe problems for Germany, which is an important EU member.
The attack stopped covert negotiations between Moscow and Berlin amid the Ukraine crisis, which affected gas transfer to Europe.
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