Kremlin says Nord Stream attack reports ‘coordinated’

March 8 (Reuters) – Western media reports of the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion are a concerted attempt to divert attention and Russia is puzzled that U.S. leaders can assume anything about the attacks without investigation, he told the Kremlin on Wednesday.

The New York Times, based on intelligence information analyzed by US officials, reported on Tuesday that a pro-Ukrainian group – likely made up of Ukrainians or Russians – was responsible for the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines that pass under the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany last September.

German network ARD and newspaper Die Zeit said the attack was carried out by five men and a woman who rented a yacht and used fake passports.

“Obviously the perpetrators want to distract,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state news agency RIA, adding that the information had been covered up.

“How can American leaders assume anything without investigation?”

“The minimum Nord Stream shareholder countries and the United Nations should demand is an urgent and transparent investigation with the participation of all who can shed light,” Peskov said.

The shareholders of Nord Stream 1 are the Russian public energy company Gazprom, the German Wintershall DEA AG and E.ON, the Dutch NV Nederlandse Gasunie and the French Engie.

Gazprom is the sole shareholder of the parallel Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, built with funding from Wintershall DEA, Engie, Austria’s OMV, Shell and Germany’s Uniper.

A “MONSTROUS CRIME”

Russia has repeatedly complained about being excluded from European investigations into the explosions.

“We are still not allowed to participate in the investigation. Only a few days ago we received notes about this from Danes and Swedes,” Peskov said.

“It’s not just weird. It smacks of monstrous crime.”

The underwater explosions, seven months after the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark in the Baltic Sea. Both countries concluded that the explosions were deliberate, but did not say who might be responsible.

Russia, without providing evidence, has repeatedly accused the UK and the US of blowing up the pipelines, which they deny.

Sources familiar with the plans told Reuters the broken pipelines were to be sealed off and rendered inoperable as there were no immediate plans to repair or reactivate them.

(Reporting by Lidia Kelly and Mark Trevelyan; Editing by Gareth Jones, Editing in Spanish by Tomás Cobos)