ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Swedes refuse Russian request for pipeline probe info

Share
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -

Sweden's prime minister says that her country cannot share with Russia details from its probe into last month's underwater explosions that ruptured two key gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, citing confidentiality surrounding the investigation.

"In Sweden there is secrecy around preliminary investigation and that also applies in this case," Magdalena Andersson said of the blast and ruptures that happened in international waters off Sweden's Baltic coastline but within the country's exclusive economic zone.

The explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which until Russia cut off supplies at the end of August was its main gas supply route to Germany. They also damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never entered service as Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February. The damaged pipelines discharged huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the air.

Russia formally asked Sweden's government to be part of the Swedish investigation in a letter dated Oct. 6.

"We're still working on how we exactly formulate the answer," Andersson said Monday at a naval base in southern Sweden.

In its preliminary investigation, Sweden's domestic security agency said last week that its probe "has strengthened the suspicions of serious sabotage" as the cause of the blasts. Sweden's prosecutor in charge of the investigation said evidence at the site has been seized.

The Swedish Security Service said the probe confirmed that "detonations" caused extensive damage to the pipelines. Authorities had said when the four leaks off Sweden and Denmark first surfaced that explosions were recorded in the area.

In a separate statement, Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist said "seizures have been made at the crime scene and these will now be investigated." Ljungqvist, who led the preliminary investigation, did not identify the seized evidence.

In Denmark, authorities remained tight-lipped about its investigation. Denmark broadcaster TV2 reported from the site that ships with the Danish and German navy ships were in the area.

German federal prosecutors, who investigate national security cases, also have opened an investigation against persons unknown on suspicion of deliberately causing an explosion and anti-constitutional sabotage.

The German investigation comes on top of the Danish and Swedish probes but are carried out with the European Union framework.

German federal prosecutors said the reason for them getting involved as well is that an attack on energy supplies could affect Germany's external and domestic security. On Sunday, authorities said that two German boats had set off for the area where the leaks occurred to look into what happened.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the West of attacking the pipelines, which the United States and its allies vehemently denied.

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

DEVELOPING

DEVELOPING Here's what we know about Israel's latest strike in Beirut

Smoke is rising over Lebanon’s capital of Beirut Friday after Israel’s military struck southern suburbs – a dramatic escalation in a year-long period of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.

Stay Connected