Seismologists reported underwater blasts before the leaks emerged.
"There is no doubt that these were explosions," said Bjorn Lund of Sweden's National Seismology Centre, as quoted by local media.
The operators of Nord Stream 2 warned of a loss of pressure in the pipeline on Monday afternoon. That led to a warning from Danish authorities that ships should avoid the area near the island of Bornholm.
The operator of Nord Stream 1 said the undersea lines had simultaneously sustained "unprecedented" damage in one day.
Denmark's Defence Command has released footage of the leaks which shows bubbles at the surface of the Baltic Sea near the island.
The largest patch of sea disturbance is 1km (0.6 miles) in diameter, it says.
I don't really see any obvious motives for any country to blow these up. NS 2 was never operational, and NS 1 has been shut down for a couple weeks already because of "technical problems," so Russia was already utilizing the "Remove the sanctions and we can 'fix' the glitch and gas will flow again" strategy. Causing major damage to the pipeline so now they definitely can't be brought on again anytime soon just seems to remove Russia's leverage.
Also I don't see why any NATO country or Ukraine would do this either, gas hasn't been flowing through them for weeks, you would think they would just keep ignoring Russia instead of blowing it up. And of course the idea that the US did this because Biden said "Nord 2 will be stopped one way or another" at the beginning of the year is absurd.
As Europe's energy costs skyrocket, Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas, according to analysis shared with BBC News.
They say the plant, near the border with Finland, is burning an estimated $10m (8.4m) worth of gas every day.
Experts say the gas would previously have been exported to Germany.
Germany's ambassador to the UK told BBC News that Russia was burning the gas because "they couldn't sell it elsewhere".
before they decided to antagonize the folks supplying them with oilJesus fucking Christ
I don't really see any obvious motives for any country to blow these upIt could be secondary motives.
I hope this doesn't affect energy prices/availability here too much
https://youtu.be/k8YC7UQVmis
It doesn't make any sense for any european country to do this. They are pretty much all entering crisis mode due to exorbitantly high energy costs this winter. Its in all of their best interest to end this conflict and get natural gas through the pipeline. LNG is now their much more expensive alternative that they have to rely on. Its also in Russia's best interest to keep that partnership going after this war is over. The only culprit in Europe is Ukraine as a fuck you to Russia.https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/7/7/AAA_aCAADuhR.jpg
The US isn't dumb enough to do something like this. This does nothing to hurt Russia short term, and long-term it hurts European allies more than it hurts Russia. And our economy very much is interconnected with western europe. Many of our companies benefit from strong european economies.
Asia...its certainly possible an asian country could do it. This allows cheaper resources for them, from Russia, and potential for export to Europe. But again, economies are so interconnected. If europe does poorly, they won't import as much from China, because most of that is manufactured goods. Bed economy = less spending = less chinese imports.
Last but not least, I think the most likely culprit is not a particular nation, but a private company involved in shipping of LNG. Destroying this pipeline should boost their stock like crazy and keep them up long-term. So watch out for that.
Last but not least, I think the most likely culprit is not a particular nation, but a private company involved in shipping of LNG. Destroying this pipeline should boost their stock like crazy and keep them up long-term. So watch out for that.
but rather will see the lower and middle classes get financially squeezed until they are serfs
It just doesn't make any sense to me for Russia or any European country to do it simply because if they didn't want the pipeline to be functional, they could have just shut off the valves themselves. And again, it really does hurt both regions. Absolutely no benefit whatsever.
Like, this is major infrastructure that will lead to massive amounts of financial losses for both parties, its not as simple as bombing a freeway or an empty building.
anyone make a nordvpn joke yet?
It makes sense if Russia is really committing to total war and is no longer expecting normalized business relations in a year or two.
The former Polish minister of defense tweeted "thank you United States" and then deleted the tweet after.
Again, they can simply shut the valve off. If anything it helps that they had the bargaining chip even if they didn't want to use it.Could also be that Putin knows that if he's deposed, the new rulers will want to reinstate normal relations with the EU by offering to open the Nordstreams in exchange of loosening/dropping the sanctions, and so, by destroying the pipes Putin removes that bargaining chip from his potential successor(s).
There's no way this is Russia cuz they get hurt the most of anyone.
Could also be that Putin knows that if he's deposed, the new rulers will want to reinstate normal relations with the EU by offering to open the Nordstreams in exchange of loosening/dropping the sanctions, and so, by destroying the pipes Putin removes that bargaining chip from his potential successor(s).
Nord Stream 2 is now empty on gas.Now known as No Stream 2.
Again, they can simply shut the valve off. If anything it helps that they had the bargaining chip even if they didn't want to use it.
There's no way this is Russia cuz they get hurt the most of anyone.
A few small holes that can be repaired in a few months seems more than worth the benefit of pushing EU further into an energy crisis at the most critical point of the war where Ukraine needs the most support3 of 4 pipes are damaged beyond repair, it is unknown if the fourth is safe to use.
3 of 4 pipes are damaged beyond repair, it is unknown if the fourth is safe to use.
Do you live in Europe?Yeah, Germany
Plus Russia was the one that turned it off and blamed it on sanctions in the first place, when the actual manufacturers said that the needed maintenance was simple and wouldn't have been impacted by sanctions. So the whole argument that Russia isn't comfortable turning off their money maker is complete bullshit given that they were the ones that have had it off this whole time.