Germany identifies two suspects in Nord Stream pipeline sabotage Prosecutor says

Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor General Jens Rommel has said that two suspects in the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were identified.

"We have managed to identify the two suspects. In my view, this is an achievement that was not expected at the beginning," Rommel said in an interview with Der Spiegel, Caliber.Az reports via foreign media. 

Rommel noted that there is still much to be done in the investigation.

“Currently, the focus is on identifying other individuals involved in the sabotage, understanding their motives, and examining whether any state may have controlled the operation,” he noted.

While assessing the likelihood of Ukraine's involvement in the incident, Rommel pointed out that the investigation is based on the fact that the pipelines, which were supposed to provide a significant portion of gas supplies to Germany, were damaged.

He described the sabotage as a serious attack on Germany's energy supply, which, regardless of any political classification, had the potential to destabilise both the economy and society. 

The explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines occurred on September 26, 2022. The Russian Federal Security Service filed a case on international terrorism. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the "Anglo-Saxons" of being behind the incident, claiming they resorted to sabotage and essentially began destroying European energy infrastructure. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called these accusations absurd. In October 2022, the German prosecutor general filed a criminal case regarding the Nord Stream explosions against unidentified individuals. Investigations were also launched by the authorities of Sweden and Denmark. All three countries refused to cooperate with Russia. On February 7, 2024, Sweden ended its investigation, acknowledging that Swedish courts had no jurisdiction over the case. On February 26, the Danish police also announced the cessation of their investigation.

By Naila Huseynova