Gas leaks found in Russian pipelines, investigators considering sabotage

Two of Russia’s gas pipelines have three unexplained leaks occurring almost simultaneously on Tuesday. It has experts investigating the possibility of a deliberate act of sabotage as the energy crisis in Europe rages on. The battle over energy has been ongoing since the war in Ukraine. The pipelines run under the Baltic Sea and they are meant to be sources of energy from Russia to Europe. Russia is one of the world’s largest oil suppliers and Europe’s number one energy source.

Oil has become Russia’s greatest piece of leverage. Russia cut off Nord Stream 1‘s gas supply to European Countries after Russia was sanctioned by the West. Nord Stream 2 pipeline is new and was supposed to start pumping earlier this year until the Ukraine war put that on pause.

If the gas leaks were created out of retaliation, it is unclear if either side actually would profit. Russia has lost oil and Europe’s access to Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines will only continue to stall. Both Russia and other European countries invested billions of dollars building the pipelines.

Different countries around Europe have pointed the finger to what they believe caused the gas leaks. Poland’s prime minister blamed sabotage, without citing evidence, and the Danish premier said it could not be ruled out. Russia said sabotage was a possibility and the incident undermined the continent’s energy security. A senior Ukrainian official called it a Russian attack to destabilize Europe.