Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that all energy infrastructure throughout the whole world is “under threat”, following Nordstream 1 and 2 mystery explosions.
Putin referred to the explosions that took the Nordstream 1 pipeline—which had its flows halted prior to the blast—offline as an act of terror that set a dangerous precedent. “It shows that any critically important object of transport, energy or utilities infrastructure is under threat,” no matter where it is or who it belongs to.
Also last, the Polish pipeline operator PERN said it detected a leak on its Drzhba oil pipeline, which carries crude oil from Russia to Europe. PERN switched off the line to Germany immediately, and while the cause of the leak is unknown, Poland sees it for now as accidental.
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In October, train service across Germany was halted when severed cables in two separate locations disrupted train travel. In that incident, Germany referred to the incident as sabotage. “We have increased vigilance since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, because we know that infrastructures have become an increased target,” German Transport Minister Volker Wissing told a German public broadcaster on Monday.
Pipeline infrastructure is critical to Europe and Russia as the only means of energy shipments that will not be subject to the upcoming EU embargo, which covers only seaborne shipments.
Putin has blamed the Nordstream 1 and 2 pipeline incident on the United States, Ukraine, and Poland, while the U.S. hasn’t ruled out Russia’s involvement.
Russia has, however, offered to ship gas through the second Nordstream 2 line, which remains undamaged. That line has not received certification to ship gas into Europe due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.