DEA invites Nord Stream to help remove object found near gas pipeline

MOSCOW, March 24 – RIA Novosti. The Danish Energy Agency (DEA) has invited Nord Stream operator Nord Stream 2 AG to participate in the rescue operation of an object found near the gas pipeline.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin said that Russia offered Denmark to control Nord Stream for other explosives, but the answer was vague. According to him, “Gazprom” specialists, when examining the gas pipeline, found a certain “column” at a distance of about 30 kilometers from the explosion site. It was installed in an unprotected place – at the junction of pipes. Experts believe it could be an antenna to receive a signal to activate an explosive device that could be placed under the pipeline system. Putin noted that many explosives may have been placed there, but some exploded, while others did not.

The agency is awaiting a response from Nord Stream 2 AG before continuing the operation.

The agency also released a photo of the “object”, noting that it was cylindrical in shape, about 40 centimeters high and 10 centimeters in diameter. It is assumed that we can talk about a sea smoke buoy.

In September last year, Russia’s two gas export pipelines to Europe, Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2, exploded simultaneously. Germany, Denmark and Sweden did not exclude targeted sabotage. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office filed a lawsuit regarding the international terrorist act.

American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh published his investigation into the sabotage in Nord Stream on February 8, citing a source, stating that in June 2022 explosive devices were placed under Russian gas pipelines by the United States as part of the Baltops exercises. Navy divers with the support of Norwegian experts. According to Hersh, the operation was authorized by US President Joe Biden.

In early March, The New York Times reported intelligence that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the attack on Nord Stream, but its plans were not supposed to be known to the Kiev leadership. Later similar material was published by several other major Western media.

Presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the broadcasts on the Ukrainian trace as a coordinated press fill-in aimed at diverting attention. Vladimir Putin himself called this version complete nonsense and noted that such sabotage can only be carried out by experts with the technological support of any state.