Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday (October 29) that British naval personnel blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, a claim London has called false and used to divert attention from Russian military failures in Ukraine .
Russia has provided no evidence to support its claims that a top NATO member sabotaged critical Russian infrastructure amid the worst crisis in West-Russian relations since the depths of the Cold War.
The Russian ministry said “British specialists” from the same unit directed Ukrainian drone strikes. on Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels in Crimea on Saturday, which he said were largely repulsed by Russian forces, with minor damage to a Russian minesweeper Terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year: the blowing up of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipelines and Nord Stream 2,” the ministry said in . Great Britain rejected the claim.
"To distract from its disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry resorts to spreading false claims on an epic scale," he said. “This fabricated story says more about the struggles within the Russian government than about the West.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, said Moscow will seek a response from the UN Security Council and said on social media that Moscow wants to draw attention to "a series of terrorist attacks against the Russian Federation in the Black Sea and in the... Baltic Sea, including Britain's participation therein'.
Russia, which has been deeply isolated from Western nations since its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, previously blamed the West for explosions that tore the Russian-built Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines into the seabed of the Baltic Sea. However, he had not previously given any specific information as to who he believed to be responsible for the damage to the previously largest pipelines. Routes for the delivery of Russian gas to Europe.
On September 26, both pipelines experienced a sharp drop in pressure and seismologists detected explosions, sparking a wave of speculation about sabotage of one of Russia's most important energy corridors. Reuters was unable to immediately verify any of the conflicting claims. about who was responsible for the damage.
THE MYSTERY OF THE PIPELINE Sweden and Denmark concluded that four leaks in Nord Stream 1 and 2 were caused by explosions, but did not say who might be responsible. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called the damage an act of sabotage.
Sweden has ordered further investigations into the damage to the pipelines, the prosecutor in charge of the case said in a statement on Friday. The Kremlin has repeatedly described accusations that Russia is responsible for the damage as "stupid". and Russian officials have said Washington has a motive as it wants to sell more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe.
The United States has denied involvement. meters - more than half of Russia's normal gas export volumes. Sections of the 1,224 km long pipelines, which stretch from Russia to Germany, lie at a depth of around 80 to 110 metres.
BLACK SEA FLEET Meanwhile, Russia said Ukrainian forces had attacked ships of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol, the largest city in Russia-annexed Crimea, in the early hours of Saturday.
Nine unmanned aerial vehicles and seven autonomous naval drones were involved in the attack," the Ministry of Defense told British Specialists in the city of Ochakiv. All flying drones were destroyed, although minesweeper Ivan Golubets suffered minor damage, the ministry said Sevastopol is the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.