A spokesman for Russian energy giant Gazprom claimed on Monday that an underwater remote-controlled minesweeper spotted in 2015 in the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline belonged to NATO.
An announcement at the time stated that a “detonator” had been neutralized by the Swedish armed forces, without further clarification.
Gazprom spokesman Sergey Kuprianov told Russian television yesterday that it was an underwater remote-controlled minesweeping vessel, called SeaFox, which had been spotted at a depth of about 40 meters near the Nord Stream 1 natural gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany. Due to the incident, the flow of natural gas was temporarily interrupted, Kuprianov said during the television interview.
Where U.S. Nuclear Bombs Are Stored in Europe (infographic)
Russian energy giant Gazprom owns a 51% stake in the Swiss-based consortium Nord Stream AG, which operates the natural gas pipeline.
Leaks detected two weeks ago on the Russian-made Nord Stream natural gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, which investigators say were caused by explosions and suspected sabotage, have opened a new front of confrontation between Moscow and the West, who blame each other.
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