Sweden and Denmark estimated the power of explosions at Nord Stream

ZURICH, September 30 — PRIME. The power of explosions at Nord Stream is estimated at hundreds of kilograms of TNT, according to a joint letter circulated by the permanent missions of Sweden and Denmark to the UN.

The letter was published by Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde on the eve of an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with sabotage at Nord Stream, which is scheduled for 22.00 Moscow time on Friday. As Linde tweeted, it’s important that the discussion is based on facts.

“The explosions were recorded by seismological institutes and occurred in international waters. The magnitude of the explosions was 2.3 and 2.1 on the Richter scale, respectively, which probably corresponds to an explosive load of several hundred kilograms,” the joint letter says.

As noted, two leaks occurred in the exclusive economic zone of Denmark, two more – in the exclusive economic zone of Sweden.

On Monday, terrorist attacks occurred simultaneously on two Russian gas export pipelines to Europe. Germany, Denmark and Sweden do not rule out targeted sabotage. The Russian side officially requested information from Denmark about the emergency at Nord Stream as soon as the incident became known. The Danish authorities notified the Russian Federation about the explosions at the site of the gas leak. The operator of Nord Stream, Nord Stream AG, reported that the emergency on gas pipelines was unprecedented, and it was impossible to estimate the timing of repairs.

The work of Nord Stream has been suspended since the end of August due to problems with the repair of Siemens turbines caused by Western sanctions. However, the pipeline remained filled with gas. Nord Stream 2, completed in 2021 but never put into operation, has also already been filled with gas.

The Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation initiated the initiation of a case on an act of international terrorism after the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that NATO was conducting exercises using deep-sea equipment in the area where the Nord Stream incidents occurred. The press secretary of the Russian President stated that CNN’s statements about Russian ships and submarines allegedly seen in the area of ​​the accident on the Nord Stream strings in the Baltic Sea are stupid and biased, more NATO ships and aircraft were noticed there.