The war in Ukraine is turning into a battle of nerves for both sides now. It has incorporated economic, political, and diplomatic spheres into it. The latest development is the mysterious bombing of Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines, which supply Europe with most of its natural gas. The word is that the explosions are a planned tact in the psycho-economic sphere of the war.
Wall Street Journal also reported that the pipeline is now at the heart of the conflict. With winter looming, it is a lifeline for western Europe via Germany, and Putin knows that. The west is resorting to sanctions, and Russian authorities are hurting them where it bleeds the most; if the supply remains discontinued for a more extended period, industrial and domestic consumers will be severely affected.
Authorities responsible for the smooth gas flow from Russia to Germany are looking into the details of the leaks/explosions/bombings. Simultaneously, European leaders are not letting the possibility of sabotage by Russia take the back burner.
On the news of the leaks, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki laid the blame on Russia without considering the events on the ground or citing any evidence. The same was the case with the Danish premiere, and surprisingly Russia also took the same stance, but it held the west responsible for it.
The leaks, three in number, were reported by the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) near a small Baltic Island. It also cautioned sailors to stay five nautical miles away from the site and pilots to fly approximately one thousand meters above the leaks. These warnings were issued as the situation was developing and reported by the WSJ.
The basis for suspicion lies in the fact that the Seismologists in the area said that they detected two tremors in the area of the leaks early Monday morning and have said that they don’t believe they were of natural origin.
“We are pretty sure that the two events were blasts,” a Swedish National Seismic Network seismologist told the WSJ. “They are not earthquakes.”
Luckily or intentionally, the pipelines were not functional during the time of the leaks. However, gas prices shot up by 5% in the wake of these leaks, and this is not a minor deal as far as the explosive situation in Europe is concerned.
