According to Merlyn Thomas
Sweden has discovered a new leak in a major underwater pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to the EU. This is the fourth leak discovered this week. Earlier, Denmark and Sweden reported gas leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, warning the authorities about the possibility of a deliberate attack. The EU said the leaks were caused by sabotage. Russia dismissed suggestions that it attacked its own pipelines, calling them "predictable and stupid."
The Swedish Coast Guard said they have found a fourth leak at Nord Stream 2, very similar to the larger leak found earlier at Nord Stream 1. The EU has previously accused Russia of using gas supplies as a weapon against the West because of its support for Ukraine.
EU leaders have come together to signal that any deliberate attack on the continent's energy infrastructure will be met with "the strongest possible response." Norway has said it will send its armed forces to protect oil and gas facilities.
None of the pipelines currently transport gas, although both have it. The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which consists of two parallel branches, has not transported gas since August, when Russia shut it down, saying it needed maintenance. It stretches for 1,200 km along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast near St. Petersburg to northeastern Germany. Its counterpart, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, was never put into commercial operation.
Seismologists have been reporting underwater explosions even before the leaks. The Danish Defense Command has released footage of the leak showing streams of bubbles, the largest of which on the surface of the Baltic Sea has a diameter of 1 km. “There is no doubt that these were explosions,” said Bjorn Lund of the National Seismological Center of Sweden.
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