Key European gas pipeline damaged due to suspected Russian sabotage

An employee operates a valve at the compressor station of the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia in Inkoo in 2019. The leak caused it to leak. shutdown on Sunday amid Russian claims of sabotage. Photo: MIKKO STIG/AFP

A leak that shut down a gas pipeline linking Finland and Estonia was most likely caused by “external activity,” Finland's president has said, amid rumors that the supply line was sabotaged by Russia.

The 48-mile Balticconnector line between the two NATO countries had to be shut down at around 2am on Sunday due to an unusual drop in pressure.

«It is likely that the damage to both the gas pipeline and the communications cable is the result of external activity,» Sauli Niinisto said on Tuesday.

He added that the cause of the damage was not yet clear.< /p>

A Finnish newspaper and Swedish public radio reported earlier on Tuesday that investigators believe the leak may have been caused by a deliberate action.

Gasgrid, the Finnish gas system operator, said repairs to the pipeline could take months or longer.

The pipeline between Inkoo in Finland and Paldiski in Estonia crosses the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea that extends east into Russian waters as far as St. Petersburg.

“It appears that the Finnish defense forces and senior government officials strongly suspect that it was Russia,” Charlie Salonius-Pasternak, a security and defense expert, told The Telegraph.

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“Who would be interested in sabotaging the pipeline? Not many countries have the capacity and motivation to do this. Basically, there is only one,” he said.

Inside the compressor station of the Balticconnector offshore gas pipeline in Inkoo, Finland, 2019 year. Repairs could take several months, investigators say. Photo: MIKKO STIG/LEHTIKUVA

Moscow's motivation could be to punish Finland for joining NATO in April, or to cut off gas supplies to Europe as winter approaches — or both.

Finland and Estonia border Russia. Two EU member states stopped importing Russian oil and gas in 2022 as part of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

“People were waiting for Russia's reaction to NATO membership. It is unlikely that this will be a direct military tool, and many of the hybrid tools that Moscow had at its disposal have been removed in the last couple of years, such as business ties,” said Mr. Salonius-Pasternak of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. .

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, said he had spoken to Mr. Niinistö about “damage to underwater infrastructure.”

“NATO is sharing information and information. ready to support concerned allies,” he said in a tweet.

The pipeline incident is likely to be on the agenda for the NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday.

Sabotage

The potential sabotage attack will revive memories of the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Germany and Russia in the Baltic Sea, which was hit by underwater explosions last September in what appeared to be sabotage.

Attack on Nord Stream 1 Pipelines and Nord Stream 2 passed through international waters, with large amounts of gas rising from the ocean floor.

The cause of the explosions remains unclear. The attack was variously blamed on Russia, Ukraine and the United States, but all denied involvement.

The Balticconnector pipeline began commercial operation in early 2020.

Kai Mykkanen, Finland Minister of Climate and Environment previously stated that the state of gas supply to the Scandinavian country remains stable, despite the disruption of the pipeline, which allows gas to be supplied from Finland to the three Baltic countries — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania — and vice versa.< /p>

“The failure of Balticconnector is not creates immediate problems for the security of energy supply. The causes of the pipe damage are being clarified and further actions will depend on them,” he said.