The Latest Breaking News from Nord Stream

Russia's prime minister has sent a letter to the Swedish government requesting a role for Russian authorities in the investigation into the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines, Sweden's foreign ministry said on Friday.

Norway has deployed a specialist vessel to inspect a subsea gas pipeline to Germany because of safety concerns after suspected sabotage last month on two Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany, according to sources and data.

Germany's BKA federal police assumes explosions in the Nord Stream pipelines last week were "a targeted act of sabotage" and said it is probable that state actors were involved, the Spiegel weekly reported, citing a letter to industry representatives.

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russia must be part of investigations into last week's explosions in the two Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea.

Whatever caused the damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, it appears to be the first major attack on critical “subsea” (underwater) infrastructure in Europe. It’s now widely thought – not least by Nato – that the explosions that led to major leaks in the two…

One of President Vladimir Putin's top allies said on Wednesday that the sabotage of the Nord Stream offshore gas pipelines resembled the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency-backed attacks on oil infrastructure in Nicaragua in 1983.

It’s not yet clear who carried out the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last week, although many Western nations are suspicious it was an act of sabotage by Russia.

NATO allies are struggling to work out how to better safeguard undersea critical infrastructure after the Nord Stream pipelines blasts laid bare the difficulty of monitoring facilities and identifying any attackers.

The Nord Stream pipeline leak might be the single largest release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Experts say it pales in comparison to ongoing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.