Denmark Followed Sweden Ends Nord Stream Pipeline Blast Probe Without Criminal Case

he Danish authorities concluded that "deliberate sabotage of gas pipelines" was committed in September 2022, but found "insufficient grounds to initiate criminal proceedings," according to a joint statement by the Copenhagen Police and Danish intelligence on Monday, TV2 and Bloomberg reported. 

Thus, Denmark, like Sweden earlier, has stopped investigating the explosions that led to the rupture of the Nord Stream gas pipelines near its territorial waters in 2022.

The decision was made after an investigation that was "both complex and comprehensive" and involved cooperation with "relevant foreign partners," the statement said.

The explosions damaged both lines of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, as well as one of the two lines of Nord Stream 2, in waters near Bornholm in eastern Denmark. The subsea connection to Germany through the Baltic Sea was the main route for Russian gas flowing through the pipes before the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

Copenhagen Police and the Police Intelligence Service have been jointly investigating sabotage against the two pipelines since September 2022.

On Monday, 26 September 2022, at around 2 a.m., an explosion was reported on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea, about 20 kilometres south of Dueodde on Bornholm.

Later that day, a little after 19:00, another explosion was reported. This time at Nord Stream 1.

Subsequently, four large holes were found in three gas pipes. For several days, gas bubbles could be seen rising to the surface of the Baltic Sea from both pipelines.

The investigation, which, according to the press release, was both extensive and complex, concluded that the explosions were a deliberate act of sabotage.

At the same time, the Copenhagen police and PET assessed that there were insufficient grounds to initiate criminal proceedings in Denmark, leading to the decision to close the investigation.

Earlier in February, Sweden also closed its preliminary investigation into the gas pipeline sabotage, finding no evidence that Sweden or its citizens were involved in the attack. The investigation is still ongoing in Germany.

As The Gaze previously reported, Norway has convicted a Russian spy who collected information about Nord Stream.