1 of 2 | It may be difficult to pinpoint who or what was behind last year's explosion on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, a Swedish investigation found. Map courtesy of the European Space Agency.
April 6 (UPI) -- An explosion last year on the Nord Stream gas pipeline network in the Baltic Sea was an act of sabotage, but it will be difficult to pinpoint who was behind the attack, Sweden said Thursday.
"We are working unconditionally and turning over every stone and leaving nothing to chance," said Mats Ljungqvist, the Swedish prosecutor in charge of the investigation. "Our hope is to be able to confirm who has committed this crime, but it should be noted that it likely will be difficult given the circumstances."
Nord Stream consists of two parallel networks that are designed to carry Russian natural gas through the Baltic Sea to Germany.
Sweden's National Seismology Center said there was an underwater blast in the area of the pipes at the time they lost pressure in September. The pipelines -- Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 -- had not been active but were still filled with natural gas when authorities noticed a sharp drop in pressure.
Even before the outbreak of war in Ukraine, the network was the target of Western scorn because it was emblematic of Russia's grip on the European energy sector. Ljungqvist said there's "no doubt" the incident was an act of sabotage.
Finger-pointing carried on for months after the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry blamed the British military for blowing up the pipeline, without providing evidence. Authorities in Britain denied the allegation. Western allies have pointed at Russia, which had stopped delivering natural gas to Europe because of sanctions.
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, meanwhile, suggested on his blog that the United States was behind the attack.
Mykhalio Podolyak, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissed a more recent report by The New York Times that said "new intelligence" pointed to forces loyal to Ukraine.
"Ukraine has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about pro-Ukraine sabotage groups," he said.
Ljungqvist said there's been plenty of blame laid since the incident occurred in September.
"The incident has obviously become an open arena for different influence attempts," he said. "These speculations do not have an impact on the ongoing investigation, which is grounded in facts and the information which has emerged from analyses, crime scene investigations and collaboration with authorities in Sweden and other countries."
