Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed allegations that Russia was responsible for damage to the undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. Investigators disclosed that a forceful mechanical disturbance led to a disruption on the Baltic-connector pipeline.
Putin refuted these allegations as nonsense, suggesting that an anchor or seismic activity could have been the cause, as opposed to sabotage. The damage to the pipeline led to a swift decrease in operational pressure over the past weekend, compelling a temporary shutdown. A telecommunications cable also sustained damage during the incident.
Finland’s internal investigations postulate that the leakage, spanning the pipeline’s 77km (48-mile) expanse, was due to some form of external interference. Finnish authority suspects that this may be a retaliatory sabotage from Russia, in response to Finland’s allegiance to NATO, formalised in April this year.
The Estonian Defence Minister, Hanno Pevkur, stated that the damage could only have been the result of an entity far more significant than a diver or drone submarine, ERR News recorded.
The Russian President countered this by claiming ignorance of the pipeline’s existence and accusing western terrorism as the reason behind the diversionary accusations against Russia, specifically in relation to the Nord Stream incident.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg voiced that should these suspicions prove to have merit, NATO allies would stand together for a unified and decisive response. He said, “Allies expressed strong solidarity with Estonia and Finland as they work to establish the facts. Nato and allies are sharing information to support that effort,”
The Estonian Navy Commander, Jüri Saska, withheld from conjectural debate about the cause of the damage.
Finnish authorities revealed that the pipeline and cable damages occurred separately within Finland’s exclusive economic zone. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo noted that the discovered harm could not have been a consequence of standard pipeline use or pressure changes. The hypothesis of seismic activity as the cause has been disregarded.
Orpo confirmed that Finland’s energy security was not under threat as alternative gas sources were available. The gas pipeline is Finland’s solitary direct connection to the greater European Union’s gas network.
The incident has rekindled concerns about energy safety, following the previous year’s Nord Stream pipeline blasts.
Launched in 2020, the Baltic-connector pipeline is used to transport gas between Estonia and Finland based on each nation’s need. Since the cessation of Russian imports in May of the previous year, the pipeline has become Finland’s exclusive natural gas import source, making up approximately 5% of the country’s energy consumption.
