Swedish prosecutor Mats Jungkvist, who heads the investigation into sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, expects to bring charges against those responsible for the attacks in the fall.
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“I hope that in the autumn we will be able to agree on the issue of prosecution. This is our goal, at least as it looks now,” Jungkvist said in an interview with Swedish Radio, noting that the investigation is approaching the final phase.
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He also said that Swedish investigators are cooperating with German colleagues. Jungqvist himself said that he had met with the prosecutor and the German investigation team, but refused to disclose the details of this meeting.
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In early April, Jungkvist stated that there was no clarity as to who was behind the blowing up of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, and it would not be easy to find those responsible.
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Explosions occurred on September 26, 2022, on two Russian export gas pipelines to Europe at once – Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2. Germany, Denmark and Sweden did not rule out targeted sabotage. The Nord Stream operator Nord Stream AG reported that the state of emergency on gas pipelines is unprecedented and it is impossible to estimate the repair time. The Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia initiated a case on an act of international terrorism.
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The American journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh published his investigation on February 8, in which, citing a source, he stated that explosive devices under Russian gas pipelines were planted in June 2022 under the cover of Baltops exercises by US Navy divers with the support of Norwegian specialists. According to Hersh, the decision to launch the operation was made by US President Joe Biden after nine months of discussions with administration officials involved in national security issues. Later, the Pentagon said that the United States had nothing to do with undermining Russian gas pipelines.
