In June, the military alliance experimented with unmanned submarines near the island of Bornholm
NATO has conducted exercises using equipment on the high seas in the area where gas leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were detected this week, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. She added that the whole Baltic Sea is “completely fullof the bloc’s military infrastructure.
Speaking at a regular press briefing on Thursday, Zakharova dismissed any allegations that Russia was behind the incident. « Can I ask you a question? When exactly did Russia decide it wanted to stop supplying energy to Europe? » she asked.
Zakharova said NATO was engaged in military activity near where the leaks were discovered, noting that this might have been of interest « opportunity » for the block.
« So maybe NATO bases never conducted exercises there, while American soldiers were never stationed on the territory of neighboring countries? » she joked, adding that this summer « In the Bornholm area of Denmark, NATO conducted exercises that used deep-sea equipment. »
Zakharova was apparently referring to exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 22 in the Baltic Sea, which took place in June 2022 and aimed to demonstrate the military bloc « mine hunting capabilities », according to the US Navy statement at the time. In particular, he sought to experiment with unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) by deploying them off the island of Bornholm.
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The Kremlin comments on the fate of the Nord Stream
Zakharova urged Washington to offer « an explanation » and « confess« in truth, claiming that the United States left that job to former Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who earlier »thanked” the United States for destroying the pipeline.
NATO said on Thursday that the pipelines had been damaged in what appeared to be a « deliberate, reckless and irresponsible acts of sabotage“promising to respond to any attack on its critical infrastructure”with a united and determined response.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the Nord Stream leaks as a probable « terrorist act« which would probably not have been possible »without the intervention of any state power.”
On Monday, Denmark reported pipeline leaks after the operator reported a loss of pressure on Nord Stream 1 and 2. Danish and Swedish officials later said there had been a series of sub- seascapes near Bornholm. A total of four gas leaks were detected in the Nord Stream system.
