An underwater drone of the German army collects evidence at the place where the explosions occurred
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office, responsible for the fight against terrorism in Germany, has assumed this Monday the investigation of the sabotage against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which directly link Russia and Germany. A spokesman for the institution based in the town of Karlsruhe, in southwestern Germany, stressed that prosecutors are investigating the bombings as a terrorist crime and the unconstitutional sabotage in three gas pipelines, actions that took place at the end of September in the Baltic Sea and territorial waters of Denmark and Sweden.
The decision entails that agents of the Federal Police and the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) take charge of the investigation and join an international group that intends to clarify the spectacular case. Already last Friday a special ship of the Bundeswehr, the federal army, left for the places in the sea where the alleged sabotages took place to collect evidence with the help of the unmanned submarine ‘Sea Cat’, a military aquatic drone.
The public prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe stressed that there are now sufficient indications that the gas pipelines were precisely and intentionally damaged with the help of explosive charges. As it is a direct attack on Germany’s energy supply system and affects the country’s external and internal security, the intervention of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the Federal Criminal Investigation Office and the Federal Police is justified, said the official spokesman.
The attacks against the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines took place at a sea depth of about 70 meters. The first investigations indicate that these pipes were completely destroyed at three different points, which at the time gave rise to a massive gas leak as they were completely full, although not operational. Due to the complexity of the action, Western secret services consider that only a state actor has the necessary means to carry out such sabotage. While some Western leaders have directly accused Russia of the attack, Moscow has claimed to have nothing to do with the matter.
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