On September 26, 2022, several explosions occurred at the Nord Stream pipelines. Already the next day, several countries stated that the leaks were caused by sabotage – since then, the clues and theories surrounding who was behind the explosions have replaced each other.
Now SVT, DR, NRK and Yle can reveal that Russian naval vessels, with the capacity to carry out underwater operations, moved around the northern explosion sites up to five days before the explosions.
See the series: The Shadow War
Ships in the area for several hours
The Russian ships had their tracking systems turned off – so-called “ghost ships” – and their location information was not recorded. But intercepted radio communications sent from the ships to Russian naval bases reveal the ships’ position, speed and direction of travel.
The ships stayed in the area for several hours and on one occasion for over a day. Two of the three ships’ movement patterns are also confirmed by satellite images.
The first naval vessel sailed from a naval base in Kaliningrad to the area southeast of Karlskrona, east of Bornholm, arriving on the morning of 7 June. The ship cruised for several hours right in the area where the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines run.
– It is interesting because it points to activity taking place below the sea surface. There is an assemblage of ships out there that together with the positions indicate that something has happened on the sea floor that may have been connected to the explosions. Without us being able to say that this is the case, says Jens Wenzel Kristoffersen, sea captain and military analyst at the University of Copenhagen.
The other naval vessel is the 86-meter-long Sibiryakov, which approached the same area on June 14, i.e. a week later. The ship remained near or just above the Nord Stream pipelines until the next day, sometimes at low speeds.
Two ships mapped with satellite images
The movement patterns of these two ships at the explosion sites at Nord Stream have also been mapped using satellite images that the four Nordic public service companies have analyzed in collaboration with the Norwegian satellite company KSAT. According to the KSAT experts, satellite images show that the ship Sibiryakov may have moved a few hundred meters from one of the explosion sites. In addition, another “ghost ship” is visible in the satellite images, but the four media companies have not been able to identify its identity. In the pictures, we see the two ships at a distance of a few hundred meters to a few kilometers from one of the later explosion sites.
At the same time as these ships were in the area, the NATO exercise BALTOPS 22 was taking place in the Baltic Sea.
The four media companies have reviewed available open ship and air data, but were unable to find any NATO units that were close enough on the night of June 14-15 to be able to observe the two ships.
The third vessel is a 49 meter long tug that belongs to the Baltic Fleet. A ship named SB-123, which sailed out to the area near the sabotage sites on September 21 last year – that is, five days before the explosions.
The vessel was previously named by German news site T-Online as one of six vessels suspected of being involved in the Nord Stream sabotage, as they were in the area on September 21 and 22, according to German intelligence sources.
The data presented to the Russian Embassy
The SB-123 turned off its tracking system when it had reached about halfway from the naval base in Kaliningrad to the area around the sabotage sites. With the information from the intercepted radio communications, it is now possible for the first time to place the vessel in the area during the period from approximately 20:00 on 21 September to approximately 14:00 on 22 September.
The Swedish prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist, who leads the investigation into the Nord Stream sabotage, says that they have a good picture of the traffic in the area during the current period.
– Even for traffic that lacks AIS data. I cannot say more due to pre-trial confidentiality.
Recently, the Danish defense confirmed to the Danish newspaper Information that another Russian vessel, the special vessel SS-750, was in the vicinity of explosion sites at Nord Stream four days before the sabotage. It is not known if the Danish defense also observed the SB-123.
The new information about the Russian ships is part of the research for the investigative series “The Shadow War”. The information has been presented in detail to the Russian Embassy in Copenhagen, which has chosen not to comment. Several European countries are investigating who is behind the Nord Stream sabotage. The conclusions have not yet been presented.
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