[Skybird]

Norstream 1 and 2 apparently sabotaged. Damage seems to be significant and serious. Der Tagesspiegel comments:
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The Nord Stream pipelines may have been damaged by targeted attacks and therefore leaked.

After there was already a drastic loss of pressure in one of the two strings of Nord Stream 2 on Monday night and a leak was detected in Danish territorial waters, a spokesman for the twin Nord Stream 1 pipeline said that a "sharp drop in pressure" was also recorded in both pipelines on Monday evening. The situation is now being investigated, he added.

Root cause investigations have been initiated in both cases, and federal security authorities have taken up the cases. "Forensic results" are not expected within a short time, he said, because the seabed must be reached.

However, the worst is expected due to the timing, the three pipelines affected and the severe pressure losses in Nord Stream 1, which also suggest a major leak. "Our imagination no longer yields a scenario that is not a targeted attack," said a person privy to the assessment by the federal government and federal agencies. It continued, "Everything speaks against a coincidence."

Such a suspected attack on the seabed is anything but trivial, it must be carried out with special forces, for example, naval divers, or a submarine, it was further said from the circles informed about the initial situation assessment.

Regarding the authorship of the alleged attacks, two main possibilities are being discussed. First, according to the initial speculations, Ukrainian forces or forces associated with Ukraine could be responsible. With the temporary shutdown of the Nord Stream pipelines, gas deliveries from Russia to Germany and Central Europe would only be possible via the Yamal connection, which runs through Poland, or the Ukrainian pipeline network.

Second, exactly the same scenario, but as a so-called "false flag" operation by Russia, was a possible explanation for the pipeline leaks. This could fuel additional uncertainty and possibly push the price of gas back up to exacerbate the European energy price crisis, which had recently eased minimally.

Russian gas monopolist Gazprom had stopped deliveries through Nord Stream 1 at the end of August, catapulting gas prices in Europe upwards. Allegedly, urgent maintenance work is not possible due to sanctions against Russia.

Both Western equipment suppliers and the German government deny this account. Berlin security circles said it could not be ruled out that a suspected attack had already been planned before the delivery stop, because the lead times for such special operations could be long.

A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Economics said on Monday evening: "We are in the process of exchanging information with the authorities concerned and the Federal Network Agency to clarify the facts here as well. Currently, we do not know the causes of the pressure drop," she said.

The Federal Network Agency does not see any impact on supply security after the pressure drop in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. "We are in the process of clarifying the facts here as well, in exchange with the Federal Ministry of Economics and the authorities concerned. Currently, we do not know the causes of the pressure drop," a spokesman for the authority said. "We do not see any impact on supply security," he added.