Denmark photographed a Russian military ship near the point of the Nord Stream sabotage

@ElentirENG ES 4·28·2023 · 18:42 0

The possible Russian authorship of the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea is once again gaining strength and, moreover, with solid evidence.

The data that indicates a possible sabotage of Russia against the Nord Stream gas pipelines
Russia reveals the purpose of the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines

The Danish Navy took 112 photos of Russian ships in that area

On April 18, the Danish newspaper Dagbladet Information published that the patrol boat P524 Nymfen of the Royal Danish Navy took 112 photos of Russian ships in the sabotage zone of those gas pipelines on September 22, 2022, days before Denmark and Sweden detected leaks in the sections of that gas pipeline that pass through their exclusive economic zones. Let us remember that, according to both countries, the leaks were caused by two explosions that occurred at 02:03 and 19:04 CET on Monday, September 26, four days after the presence of that Russian ship in the zone.

26 of those photos were of the SS-750 ship, equipped with a mini-submarine

This Friday, Dagbladet Information publishes that The Danish Ministry of Defense has confirmed the presence of the special ship SS-750 of the Russian Navy in the area. "The special vessel is designed to carry out operations under the sea and has an AS-26 Priz type mini-submarine on board", the Danish newspaper noted. The Ministry of Defense has confirmed that of the 112 photos of Russian ships taken by the Danish patrol boat on September 22, 26 are of the SS-750 ship.

Analyst Jacob Kaarsbo, who worked for 15 years at the Danish Defense Intelligence Service, told Dagbladet Information that the Russian special vessel SS-750 "has the capability to carry out a this guy". Until now, the possession of this photographic material by Denmark had not come to light since it is intelligence material, which is why the photos have not been published. The material could be used in the official investigation being carried out by Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Other sources have already pointed out the presence of Russian ships in the area

It is not the first information that indicates the presence of Russian ships in the area days before the sabotage. On September 29, CNN reported the presence of Russian ships in the area. Among the three sources cited by the US media were two Western intelligence officials. On March 25, the German media T-Online published the list of Russian ships sighted in the area on September 22, noting that the largest in the group was the submarine support ship SS-750 (the same one whose presence has been confirmed by Denmark), noting the following:

«It regularly participates in training simulating accidents on the seabed. Its special feature: on board is a so-called "Project 1855", which includes a deep-submersion rescue vehicle called "AS-26", which is supposed to evacuate crews from crashed submarines in emergency case. It has grab arms that can move loads of up to 50 kilograms underwater.

It was precisely those mini-submarines that could have placed the explosive charges that attached it to the pipes, the experts suspected from the beginning. If the "SS-750" was confirmed to be on the scene, the Russian Navy would probably be the prime suspect from then on. "It would make a lot of sense to use something like the 'AS-26' to such an attack," Danish Lieutenant Commander and military analyst Johannes Riber told t-online on the matter. "That would be the most plausible explanation so far for what happened to the Nord Stream pipeline."»

A German outlet published the names of the Russian ships that were in the area

T-Online added that the SS-750 is based in Baltiysk, in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, which is the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. Satellite images published by T-Online show the SS-750 setting sail from its base on the night of September 21: "At a speed of nine knots, it would have been able to reach the site by 7:50 pm. The so-called "Automatic Identification System" (AIS), which transmits location data, had been turned off, however, its 95-meter length would match the dimensions of a dark ship discovered by the American company SpaceKnow without a signal. position near the crime scene".

The German outlet also pointed out that between 00:00 and 01:00 on the same day, two other Russian ships set sail from Kaliningrad: the rescue tugs "SB-123" and "Alexander Frolov" . T-Online noted the following about both ships: "Each of them has deck loading cranes that would be capable of lowering hundreds of kilograms of heavy explosive devices or mines into the water" . T-Online adds: "Although they initially turned off AIS, they sent position data once to the west in the afternoon, indicating a heading towards Bornholm and a speed of nine knots By then, the ships were only five hours away from the sites of the subsequent attack."

T-Online notes that soon after, "a US military helicopter stationed in Gdansk, Poland, crossed its course. Was it warning the Danes of approaching ships with no position signals?" The German outlet reports the possible presence of three other Russian ships in the area: the spy ship "Syzran", the corvette "Soobrazitelny" and the frigate "Yaroslav Mudry". These last two had their AIS system turned off so as not to reveal their location. "Their position would have allowed the frigate and corvette to escort ships returning from the scene to Kaliningrad, or at least protect them from the NATO maneuver off the coast of Poland."

The SS-750 had its mini-submarine on board when it was seen in the area

On March 25, OSINT analyst Oliver Alexander posted photos satellite and location maps of those Russian ships in the days prior to the said sabotage. That article stated the following: "Unfortunately the SS-750 does not use AIS, so it is not possible to track this vessel directly through MarineTraffic and AIS data. It is however possible to attempt to track it through other indirect means. Though an Google Earth image taken on October 10th 2022, we know exactly where the SS-750 was docked at that time. This image shows that it is the outer of the two Project 141 ships docked in Baltiysk, as we can see the AS-26 Project 1855 Priz Deep-Diving Rescue Vehicle stored on the deck of the vessel."

Thus, when sailing in Baltic waters in the days before the sabotage, the SS-750 had on board its AS-26 Priz mini-submarine, with which it could have carried out the placement of underwater charges for detonation in the following days.

Some data that contradict the story published by Seymour Hersh

This data and evidence vastly contradicts history published by Seymour Hersh on February 8 accusing the US of sabotage, without offering any proof and on a single anonymous source who also offered false data answered by the aforementioned OSINT analyst Oliver Alexander in a very detailed report, in which he cites Hersh's claim about NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's alleged collaboration with US intelligence since the Vietnam War (he was only 16 when that war ended), or the claim of that the sabotage was carried out from a Norwegian Alta-class minesweeper taking advantage of the coverage of the BALTOPS 22 exercise, something impossible, since Norway no longer had such ships in service (the last one was decommissioned in July 2022) and none of them participated in that exercise.

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Main photo: Mil.ru.