Leaks on Russian gas pipelines raise concerns about sabotage

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Explosions rattled the Baltic Sea before unusual leaks were discovered on two natural gas pipelines running underwater from Russia to Germany, seismologists said Tuesday. Some European leaders and experts are pointing to possible sabotage during an energy standoff with Russia provoked by the war in Ukraine.

The three leaks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which are filled with natural gas but not delivering the fuel to Europe, overshadowed the inauguration of a long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland to bolster the continent's energy independence from Moscow.

The first explosion was recorded early Monday southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm, said Bjorn Lund, director of the Swedish National Seismic Network. A second, stronger blast northeast of the island that night was equivalent to a magnitude-2.3 earthquake. Seismic stations in Norway and Finland also registered the explosions.

"There’s no doubt this is not an earthquake,” Lund said.

The gas leaks created a foamy white area on the water's surface, images released by Denmark's military show.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki called the events “an act of sabotage," while Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said she could not rule it out. During a ceremony near Goleniow, in northwestern Poland, they and Polish President Andrzej Duda symbolically opened the valve of a yellow pipe belonging to the Baltic Pipe, a new system sending Norwegian gas across Denmark and the Baltic Sea to Poland.

"The era of Russian domination in the gas sphere is coming to an end," Morawiecki declared. “An era that was marked by blackmail, threats and extortion.”

The escaped natural gas is made up almost entirely of methane. Methane is the second biggest contributor to climate...