Feb. 26 (UPI) — Denmark is closing its investigation into the explosions that damaged the two Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in 2022, officials confirmed Monday.
Danish officials called their investigation “complicated and extensive,” but said they would not comment further on the case.
Denmark’s investigation was carried out by Danish police with assistance from the Norwegian Police Intelligence Service (PET).
“Based on the investigation, the authorities can conclude that there was deliberate sabotage of the gas pipelines. At the same time, it is assessed that there is no necessary basis for pursuing criminal proceedings in Denmark,” the Danish daily newspaper Politiken quotes a joint release by the Copenhagen Police and PET as saying.
The news comes less than a month after Swedish officials announced they were wrapping up their probe into the series of explosions that damaged the two natural gas pipelines. Prosecutors at the time said the country lacked the proper legal authority to continue the investigation.
Officials have previously declared the explosions and subsequent damage to the pipeline network were caused by “sabotage,” but there have been several accusations surrounding who may have been responsible
Russia has accused Western powers including Britain and the United States of carrying out the attack. The New York Times previously reported a pro-Ukraine group and intelligence official may have been behind the attack.
The United States has accused Russia of carrying out the sabotage, a claim Moscow has vehemently denied.
The pipelines are owned by Russia’s Gazprom to carry Russian natural gas through the Baltic Sea to Germany.
Only the Nord Stream 1 line was in service at the time of the explosion, with Germany halting work on line 2 before it became active in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia spokesman Dmitry Peskov called Denmark’s discontinuation of the investigation “close to absurd”, according to Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti.
