German officials reportedly believe the crucial Nord Stream natural-gas pipelines connecting Russia to Europe were attacked near a Danish island

Pressure in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines dropped sharply on Monday.

German officials reportedly believe the Nord Stream Russia-Europe natural-gas pipelines were attacked.
The operator of the pipelines said Tuesday they’d suffered “unprecedented” damage in a single day.
The Kremlin said later it could not rule out sabotage to the pipelines, per Reuters.

German officials reportedly believe the crucial Nord Stream natural-gas pipelines connecting Russia to Europe, which have sustained severe damage, were the subject of an attack.

Tagesspiegel, a newspaper in Germany, where the pipelines land from Russia, reported a government source as saying: “We can’t imagine a scenario that isn’t a targeted attack. Everything speaks against a coincidence.”

Jakob Hanke Vela, a Germany-based reporter for Politico, tweeted: “Accident highly unlikely, officials in Berlin believe both pipelines have been attacked.”

Die Welt, another German publication, reported that the timing of the damage suggested sabotage, and was unlikely to be an accident.

A spokesperson for Germany’s economy ministry told Insider it “doesn’t participate in speculation.” Germany’s energy regulator, the Federal Network Agency, said in an email it was in the process of clarifying the situation.

Later Tuesday, the Kremlin said it couldn’t rule out that damage to the Nord Stream pipelines was caused by sabotage.

“No option can be ruled out right now,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, adding, per Reuters, that the Kremlin was concerned with the situation, which was an issue for Europe’s energy security.

“It seems extremely improbable that the leaks on two different pipelines happen at the same time,” Mate usz Kubiak, energy analyst at the Warsaw-based Esper is consultancy, told Politico. “Therefore I think we should assume that it was intentional to create these leaks.” Kubiak added that he didn’t think it made sense for Ukraine or the West to sabotage the pipelines, per Politico.

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The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipeline systems are the largest for sending natural-gas from Russia to Europe. Each system consists of two pipelines.

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the newer Nord Stream 2 system, which at the time was filled with natural-gas but wasn’t operational, was suspended. And as the war has dragged on, Russia has gradually crimped supply through Nord Stream 1, which was fully-operational before the invasion.

The Danish Energy Agency said Monday it had discovered a leak in the Nord Stream 2 system near Bonhomme, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea. The Swedish Maritime Authority said leaks had been detected in both Nord Steam 1 and Nord Stream 2 near Bornholm.

On Tuesday, Nord Stream AG, the operator of the pipelines, said: “The destruction that happened within one day at three lines of the Nord Stream pipeline system is unprecedented.”

It added: “It’s impossible now to estimate the timeframe for restoring operations of the gas shipment infrastructure.”

The Danish Navy has sent an Ab salon-class frigate to site of the leaks for monitoring purposes and to warn ships to stay away, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation reported. A no-fly zone is in operation over the affected area, a German government official told Insider.

Klaus Müller, president of Germany’s Federal Network Agency, wrote in a Twitter post Monday the situation was “tense” but Germany and the European Union were no longer dependent on Nord Stream 1.

Since Russia halted gas supplies to Europe in early September, no gas has flowed through Nord Stream 1, the Federal Network Agency said. It added that storage levels in Germany were rising and were around 91% at the time of writing.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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