Shortly before the explosion in the "Nord Stream", NATO exercises were held in the Baltic region. This was emphasized by the adviser to the Russian President and Chairman of the Naval Collegium Nikolai Patrushev to the newspaper "Kommersant", commenting on the situation with the investigation into the attacks on the gas pipelines.
“Now they prefer not to remember that literally on the eve of the explosion of the "Nord Stream", NATO naval exercises were held in this region of the Baltic,“ Patrushev emphasized.
He also drew attention to the statement of the Ukrainians, who were arrested earlier on suspicion of blowing up the pipelines, according to which the investigation being conducted against them aims to shift the blame to Ukraine and cover up the real organizers and participants in the attack, who are interested in increasing tensions in the Baltics. “Analysis of the situation in the region confirms their words“, he concluded.
Earlier, German investigators identified all the saboteurs who blew up the “Nord Stream“ and “Nord Stream 2“ gas pipelines in 2022, Die Zeit reported. Arrest warrants have been issued for six Ukrainian citizens. The seventh suspect died in December 2024 in eastern Ukraine during the fighting. According to the German federal prosecutor's office, the sabotage group consisted of a skipper /captain of a sailing ship/, a coordinator, an explosives expert and four divers who arrived from Rostock to the crime scene in Baltic Sea with the sailboat “Andromeda“.
Strange incidents with underwater infrastructure and Russian ships show that the West has turned the Baltic Sea into an arena for undeclared hybrid war, Patrushev also said.
“A series of strange incidents with underwater cables and incidents with Russian ships show that the West has seriously decided to raise the stakes“, Patrushev stressed, noting that Western countries have turned the Baltic Sea “into an arena for undeclared hybrid war“.