Page 23 - RusRPTOct22

There is little doubt that this was an attack and not an accident as there is a significant distance between the three holes in the three pipelines where the leaks originated and these all appeared within a few hours of each other.
So far, pundits have suggested that Russia, the US, Ukrainian special forces and Poland could have been responsible.
Moscow has blamed the US, pointing to explicit threats by US President Joe Biden and others ahead of the war that the US would shut down the pipeline if Russia invaded Ukraine, irrespective of its European partners wishes. Russia has called a UN emergency meeting where it will present its evidence.
According to a Russian media report, a US helicopter that was loitering over that section of the pipeline could be involved in the leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.
“The MH-60R Strike Hawk multi-role helicopter circled over the Baltic Sea for nine hours - from 19:30 Moscow time on Sunday, September 25 to 4:30 Moscow time on Monday, September 26; about 250 kilometres from the Danish island of Bornholm, where the gas leak was detected,” wrote the Internet newspaper lenta.ru on Wednesday, citing data from Flightradar.
However, others point out that the helicopters are also routinely used in anti-submarine operations.
The leak of so much methane into the atmosphere will have a heavy toll on the environment as methane is fifty-times more damaging than CO2, say experts. The Danes calculated that the climate impact of the gas leak corresponds to about a third of Denmark's total climate impact in one year, but poses no health or other risk to the population.
No gas was flowing through either of the pipelines. Nord Stream 2 was never certified and never went into operation. Nord Stream 1 has not been working for a month after Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom shut it down for repairs.
However, the removal of Nord Stream from the picture entirely has spooked markets as it removes the possibility of resuming deliveries of gas in the depth of winter if an energy crisis becomes acute and raises fresh questions about energy security in Germany and Europe. Gas prices jumped 20% a day after the attack on the pipeline was announced.
In theory some gas deliveries could be restarted via the undamaged Nord Stream 2 string, but that would need the pipeline to be certified, which experts see to be politically impossible in the current climate.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) meanwhile warned of the danger of further acts of sabotage. "Of course, the critical infrastructure is a potential target," said the Vice Chancellor. "But Germany is a country that knows how to defend itself and Europe is a continent that can protect its energy infrastructure."
23 RUSSIA Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com