Those Mysterious Nord Stream Explosions

"[Evidence of detonations have been found hardening suspicions of] gross sabotage."

"After completing the crime scene investigation, the Swedish Security Service can conclude that there have been detonations at Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Swedish economic zone."

"[The evidence] has strengthened the suspicions of gross sabotage."

Swedish Security Service

"[Moscow will insist on a] comprehensive and open investigation [which includes Russian officials and Gazprom]."

"Not to allow the owner [of the pipelines] to witness the investigation means there is something to hide."

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman, Russian foreign ministry

"We will struggle to avoid a gas emergency this winter without at least 20 percent savings in private households, businesses and industry."

"The situation may become very serious if we do not significantly reduce our gas consumption."

Klaus Mueller, head, Germany's Federal Network Agency, Bundesnetzagentur

It is a geopolitical whodunnit as opaque and murky as the Baltic Sea itself

Four leaks in the Nord Stream Russian-owned pipeline linking Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea suddenly became another surprise in an endless cycle of surprises with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Western-imposed, U.S. and NATO-led sanctions regime to punish Russia for its unsavoury war with its massive destruction, population displacement and tens of thousands dead. Moscow has played its hand as an energy supplier of 40 percent of Europe's winter fuel. Teasing and withholding oil and gas from Europe whose dependency as an energy-needful bloc leaves them twisting in the winds of war.

It's a simple enough equation: If you see fit to sanction me, hobbling my economy, why should I generously provide you with fuel so your manufacturing sector can get on, and your population won't freeze in the dark this winter? The world of dependency where Europe pays Russia for its natural resources, funding a war they sanction Russia over, shines a spotlight on the lack of timely awareness on the part of those nations shackling the Russian economy and their helplessness in the current situation. That gas and oil not reaching its contractual destinations is not fungible; there are few alternative options.

But for Russia, there are. New agreements with China and with India and new sources of revenue for providing those massively-populated, industri8alized nations hungry for a reliable source of energy. The Russia that proved unreliable for Europe now swerves to supply the East. It is with t he West that the Kremlin struggles in a long-standing power play, and where Russia has been enfeebled since the dissolution of the USSR. Acquiring Russia's energy assets enabling it to fund its war in Ukraine presents no issue to China, focusing on the outcome as it waits its own turn with Taiwan.

A gas leak from the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the Baltic Sea is seen in this picture taken by the Swedish Coast Guard on Sept. 28. (Swedish Coast Guard/TT News Agency/Reuters)

So while Moscow is happy to blame the West for somehow causing the explosive disruptions in energy delivery to Europe, and its propaganda arm is working overtime on a spurious truck-bomb claim, the elusive reality may be more in the realm of an aquatic missile or a drone unleashed by Ukrainian forces sabotaging the pipelines. Or not. Ukrainian authorities have long complained of Russian gas and oil to Europe paying for Ukraine's destruction. It may be quite feasible that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has traded urging Europe to ban Russian energy, to himself taking action to ensure that energy is unused.

Material of an unspecified nature was retrieved from the blast area in a search conducted by the Swedish Coast Guard and Navy, with the use of unmanned vehicles. "The pipes are at a depth of 70 - 80 metres and at those depths you use unmanned underwater vehicles", explained Swedish navy spokesperson Jimmie Adamsson. Russia had been informed through diplomatic channels not to expect an invitation to join the investigation. "As of now, there are no plans to ask the Russian side to join investigations" said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, despite Russian claims that an objective investigation could not proceed without its participation.

The damaged sections have been cordoned off by Danish and Swedish authorities. And Sweden's position is that a Swedish criminal investigation does not permit others to take part. According to Denmark's foreign ministry, a police-led task force comprised of Denmark, Sweden and Germany was in charge of the investigation. 

Undersea explosions ruptured Nord Stream 1 and its sister pipeline, Nord Stream 2, at two locations off Sweden and two off Denmark. The pipelines were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany.