Analysis: Pipeline assaults imply Ukrainian struggle is ‘now going to the Baltic’
Professor Michael Clarke, a safety and defence analyst, mentioned leaks within the Nord Stream fuel pipeline within the Baltic Sea had been attributable to “three explosions near the seabed”.
He added it’s “clearly an act of sabotage”, as you want a submarine to trigger such chaos underwater.
“This is not some casual terrorist act, it has to be a government. The only government who could really gain from that, in a peculiar way, is Russia – none of the European governments would want to do it.”
His feedback come after Denmark mentioned “deliberate actions” induced such leaks within the pipelines, which run below the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.
“Privately, everyone is convinced this is a Kremlin-inspired piece of sabotage,” Professor Clarke mentioned.
“This is a strategic own goal because although it increases the sense of isolation that there will be no Russian gas for Europe this winter, it actually destroys Russia’s credibility completely with European customers for the next couple of generations.”
Asked why they’d do it, Professor Clarke mentioned his guess is that the Russians wished to “create insecurity that there may be more of this”.
“It opens up a new front in the war. It means the Ukrainian war is now going to the Baltic.”
Source: information.sky.com”