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German authorities consider it “likely” that sabotage involving “state actors” is behind the explosions detected last week on the Nord Stream pipelines, the weekly Der Spiegel reported Wednesday.
The Federal Criminal Office (BKA) considers that these explosions constituted “targeted sabotage” and that “particularly in the context of the high complexity of the execution of the crime and the related preparation, the action of state actors seems likely”.
The allusion is contained in a BKA message to which the weekly had access, the newspaper reports.
The document admits that the BKA “has not yet found any information about the perpetrators of the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines”.
The German office warns that there could be further sabotage actions against what is considered critical infrastructure, “in a quantitatively and possibly also qualitatively increased form.”
Specifically it alludes that attacks could be directed against gas and electricity lines as well as deep sea Internet cables and adds that “offshore or onshore installations such as LNG (liquefied natural gas) terminals or wind turbines” could also be targeted.
“Der Spiegel” states that the BKA document also mentions cyber attacks as a possibility of being a target for sabotage.
Danish and Swedish authorities reported two leaks in Nord Stream 1 and another in Nord Stream 2 early last week, but the Swedish Coast Guard reported another minor leak in the second Russian pipeline days later.
In total, two leaks were located in each pipeline (both out of service), two in the Danish area and two in the Swedish area, all in international waters, which the governments concerned have described as “sabotage”.
