Sabotage suspected after leaks in Russian gas pipelines: Reports

LONDON

German authorities are not ruling out an attack on Russian gas pipelines after it was confirmed that heavy underwater explosions were recorded in the same area as the gas leaks on Monday, German weekly Der Spiegel reported.

“Following sudden pressure drops in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines on Monday, there is concern in the German government that this could be a targeted attack on European gas infrastructure and gas markets,” according to the weekly.

Citing unnamed sources, it said that the American CIA had weeks ago warned Germany about possible attacks on gas pipelines.

Earlier, measuring stations, which record earthquakes and explosions in both Sweden and Denmark, recorded heavy underwater explosions, said a Swedish broadcaster SVT Nyheter.

One of them had a magnitude of 2.3 on the Richter scale and was registered at measuring stations throughout the country, according to the broadcaster.

Bjorn Lund, a lecturer in seismology at the Swedish National Seismic Network, said that "there is no doubt that these are blasts or explosions," SVT Nyheter reported.

He added that only a blast or explosion could have caused the waves to bounce from the bottom to the surface.

"We even had a station in Kalix that picked this up," said Lund.

The first explosion was registered at 2:03 a.m. (0003GMT) local time on Monday and the second at 7:04 p.m. (1704GMT), said the broadcaster.

The warnings about the gas leaks came from the Swedish Maritime Administration at 1:52 p.m. local time (1152GMT) and 8:41 p.m. (1641GMT), after ships detected bubbles on the surface, it added.