Published 28 September 2022 at 09.19
Domestic. Attacking the gas pipelines that pass through Sweden's economic zone in the Baltic Sea is not difficult, several groups and countries have that ability. NATO researchers say both pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian actors may be behind the attack, but that it is probably seen as sabotage in the Kremlin.
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Germany and other countries received advance information from the United States that an attack on the gas pipelines would take place a few weeks before it took place, and the country's President Joe Biden has previously announced that the United States simply does not accept Nordstream 2 being put into operation.
Many also suspected that Sweden received advance information because the government directly organized a quick and professionally conducted press conference where the prime minister took command of the crisis management and announced that Swedish combat forces had been sent to the area and more. Something that was in sharp contrast to the passivity that characterized the government's actions during, for example, the corona outbreak in 2020 and the tidal wave disaster in Asia in 2004.
Immediately after the attack, the top Polish politician Radek Sikorski wrote a personal thank you to the USA for sabotaging the gas pipelines. Something that the superpower had not admitted at the time and still does not claim to have done.
And that it is precisely the United States that is behind the attack is far from obvious.
Several countries or groups may want to carry out sabotage against the gas pipelines, says Arnold Dupuy, head of a research group that deals with hybrid threats within NATO, to SVT.
– Firstly, it could be groups that are against the Kremlin, perhaps from Ukraine or someone elsewhere. It could also be pro-Russian activists or staff who think this is a good way to continue making sure that gas doesn't reach Europe, he says.
– I guess anyone who has the ability to performing underwater activity may have done so. There are several organizations and groups that have that ability. It may have been done via remote control.