'Terrorist act': Russia accuses UK of carrying out Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions

Russian Defense Ministry on Saturday, October 29 accused UK Royal Navy of sabotaging Europe's 1,230 km twin gas pipeline infrastructure—the Nord Stream— that ran under the Baltic Sea from Moscow. British Navy officers blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, Moscow's Defense Ministry said, asserting that they have evidence concluding an investigation. Russia's MoD directly accused the leading NATO member of sabotaging the critical Russian facility. Britain’s defense ministry is yet to issue an official response. 

“According to available information, Royal Navy representatives took part in the planning and implementation of a terrorist act in the Baltic Sea on September 26 to blow up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines”, the MoD said in a statement, citing the evidence. 

Putin suspected of US Navy involvement, initially

In late September, several powerful explosions damaged the Nord Stream I and II pipelines resulting in gas leaks into the Baltic Sea. The pipeline played a key role in the transit of Russian gas to Europe. The Swedish and Danish authorities suspected sabotage, and the European member states accused Moscow of being covertly involved in the incident. Accusations were also hurled at the United States by Russia's President Vladimir Putin who blamed Washington and its allies for the act. Putin rejected "stupid" theories in the West that Russians sabotaged the pipelines themselves that carried an estimated 110 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe. Russian Prosecutor General's Office classified the pipeline explosions as an act of "international terrorism."

"The attack on the Nord Streams has set an extremely dangerous precedent, which shows that any critical piece of transport, energy or communications infrastructure is under threat, regardless of its location, management or whether it lies on the seabed or on land," Putin said. 

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova had insisted that Russia must be allowed to participate in the probe but was denied participation. "We've heard disturbing statements that any cooperation with the Russian side is ruled out," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov at the time said at a state conference, "We, obviously, will be waiting for some clarification on that as we believe that participation of the Russian side in examining the damaged area and investigating what happened should be mandatory."  Russia's Zakharova, in turn, brazenly asked whether the President of the United States, Joe Biden, was behind the destruction of the pipeline infrastructure. "US President Joe Biden must answer whether the United States acted on its threat on September 25 and 26," she wrote on Twitter. 

Refuting the Russian allegations, US Navy on Sunday responded saying that it has no involvement in sabotaging the Nord Stream pipeline blasts. It reacted to the reports of a P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance flight seen near the site in the Baltic Sea. The flight "was not related to the leaks," US Navy Captain Tamara Lawrence, US Naval Forces Europe-Africa spokesperson, said at the time. Russia's Foreign Ministry also called for an official UN Security Council Meeting to be convened, alleging, initially that evidence shows Washington's role in the sabotage. Russian officials had earlier claimed that Washington had a motive as it wanted to sell liquefied natural gas (LNG) at a higher price to Europe.