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The Russian army has accused the British navy of being ‘involved’ in explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and aiding Ukraine plans a massive drone attack on Moscow’s Black Sea fleet.
While the Russian Defense Ministry has not provided any evidence to support the claim, it said representatives of a “unit of the British Navy” took part in the planning, execution and execution of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 that involved the Nord Stream. blew up. 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines’.
The British Ministry of Defense has described it as a ‘made-up story’ that ‘says more about the quarrels going on within the Russian government than it does about the West’.
In a statement, the government department added: “To detract from their disastrous approach to the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry is resorting to false claims of epic proportions.”
Moscow also claimed British forces were involved in a drone strike on their Black Sea fleet in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol today, which Russia says involved nine drones and damaged one warship.
The explosions of the Nord Stream pipes in September caused four gas leaks. While the spills were in international waters, two were in the Danish Exclusive Economic Zone and two in the Swedish
Pictured: An aerial photo provided by the Swedish Coast Guard on September 28, 2022 shows the gas leak on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline
A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry said: “Today at 4:20 am, the Kiev regime carried out a terrorist attack on Black Sea Fleet ships and civilian ships.
“Preparation for the act of terrorism and training of military personnel of the Ukrainian 73rd Special Operations Center Marine Unit was conducted under the direction of British specialists who were located in the city of Ochakiv, Mykolaiv region, Ukraine.”
He warned: “It should be emphasized that the ships of the Black Sea fleet that are victims of the terrorist attack are involved in ensuring the security of the grain corridor as part of the international initiative to export agricultural products from Ukrainian ports.”
Russia has said Western countries have not allowed it to participate in international investigations into the explosions of the Nord Stream pipelines in September.
Instead, it has hinted for weeks that its security forces have a different version of what sparked the September explosions, with some Western countries calling it sabotage and pointing the finger at Russia.
Both the Swedish and Danish authorities have investigated four holes in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. While the leaks were in international waters, two were in the Danish Exclusive Economic Zone and two in the Swedish one.
A spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense said representatives of a “unit of the British Navy took part in the planning, execution and execution of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 that blew up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.” ‘.
The Russian Defense Ministry also blamed British troops for the drone strike in Sevastopol this morning (pictured)
UK Ministry of Defense rejected the claim, describing it as a ‘made-up story’ of an ‘epic scale’
The pipelines, which connect Russia to Germany, have been at the center of geopolitical tensions as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in retaliation against Western sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Moscow.
Although the pipelines were not in operation, they contained gas before falling victim to the apparent sabotage.
The finger has been pointed at Russia, whose state-owned energy company Gazprom is the main owner of the pipelines. However, the Kremlin has called such allegations “stupid”, previously blaming the United States for the damage and now making claims about the UK’s involvement.
Videos published last week by the Swedish newspaper Expressen show a huge crack and twisted metal on the pipeline 80 meters below the ocean.
Footage (pictured), released last week from Sweden, shows that at least 50 meters of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was destroyed or buried under the seabed, after an explosion on September 26 – considered by many to be a Russian attack
Through the darkness, a deep trench can be seen in the seabed where the gas pipeline was before the explosions.
According to the paper, the videos show more than 50 meters of the pipeline missing or buried under the seabed, and long cracks can be seen on the seabed leading up to the burst pipe.
“It’s just an extreme force that can bend metal as thick as we see,” Trond Larsen, a drone operator at Norwegian company Blueye Robotics, told Expressen.
Larsen, who piloted the underwater drone that captured the video, also said you could also see “a very large impact on the seafloor around the pipe.”
Expressen said the explosions measured 2.3 on the Richter scale.