A journey to the site of the Nord Stream explosions

Prosecutors successful Sweden accidental explosions connected a state pipeline betwixt Russia and Europe were the effect of sabotage. The explosions successful precocious September successful the Baltic Sea, adjacent to Sweden and Denmark, targeted 2 cardinal pipelines carrying earthy state from Russia to Europe. Russia denies immoderate involvement.

Before Friday's announcement by the Swedish prosecutors, our Europe exertion Katya Adler travelled to the site.

A Danish surveillance level was flying circular and circular supra our heads. To the backmost and the broadside of us, 2 Swedish and a Danish warship loomed. Suddenly, a Russian proviso vas appeared and anchored adjacent by.

We hovered anxiously by our vessel radio, wondering if, aft each these weeks of trying to put exclusive entree with the applicable authorities to this constituent successful the Baltic Sea, we would beryllium instructed by 1 of those warships to get retired of there.

We were eastbound of the Danish land Bornholm and southbound of the Swedish mainland, wherever 2 pipelines that agelong from Russia to Germany - Nord Stream 1 and 2 - passed beneath us.

Three explosions ripped done the pipelines with the unit of a immense car bomb, according to quality experts. But nary grounds has yet travel to airy astir who was down the attacks.

However, connected Friday a Swedish authoritative said successful a connection that traces of explosives had been recovered connected respective objects recovered from the site. The findings established the incidental arsenic "gross sabotage".

The BBC had antecedently been fixed entree to the underwater site. Aside from a Swedish paper journalist, nary different media had been allowed. We recovered that the grade of the blast harm was acold greater than had been thought.

With us, we had Norwegian underwater drone adept Trond Larsen. He utilized sonar exertion to analyse details of the detonated pipes. Trond cautiously lowered his 2 drones into the choppy waters, guiding them with a cleverly re-purposed gaming console.

"Look astatine that, Katya," helium jabbed excitedly astatine the laptop we had balanced successful our constrictive ship's cabin, which was live-streaming images captured by the drones.

"Part of the tube has changeable four, five, possibly six metres consecutive upwards, astatine the constituent wherever it was blown apart.

"Now we tin spot however the factual has blasted off, showing jagged edges of the alloy underneath - 45 millimetres of alloy flattened, ripped consecutive out. The speed, the force, the detonation indispensable person been huge."

Trond's sonar imagery showed america however far, adjacent crushingly heavy, heavy concrete-coated tube debris had been thrown crossed the water level successful the explosion.

He was intrigued to spot way marks connected apical of immoderate tube casing. A hint perhaps, helium wondered, to however the explosives had been detonated, oregon laid? Or simply marks near by machinery erstwhile the pipes were archetypal laid?

The backdrop to this sabotage is Russia's warfare successful Ukraine. Sweden and Denmark are conducting their ain abstracted investigations. Intelligence services are famously wary and secretive - adjacent betwixt allies.

The explosions connected the pipes, which were not successful usage astatine the time, took spot partially successful what's known arsenic the Swedish, and partially successful the Danish, economical zones of the Baltic Sea.

The West wide thinks the Kremlin was down the attacks, a benignant of connection from Moscow - portion of the hybrid - oregon non-conventional warfare - it's waging, including cyber attacks, distant from the battlefield successful Ukraine.

Russia has blamed the sabotage connected the westbound - vaguely connected the US, and specifically connected the UK Royal Navy, which promptly dismissed the allegation arsenic an effort by Russia to distract from its subject failures.

Later, we discovered the Russian offshore vas we had spotted was portion of a abstracted probe Moscow had begun into the Baltic explosions. While galore successful the West spot this arsenic a cynical determination by Moscow, Stockholm is disquieted that Russia mightiness usage this arsenic a pretext to signifier a much regular beingness adjacent to Swedish shores. The state is poised to articulation Nato.

One happening has go wide from the explosions - the captious value of Europe's vigor infrastructure, bringing oil, state and energy from root to our homes and workplaces astatine this clip of vigor crisis, and the immense trouble successful protecting it.

This is present different large beforehand enactment successful the existent conflict.

At a caller vigor league successful Moscow, President Vladimir Putin warned ominously that vigor infrastructure "anywhere and everywhere" was nether threat.

And it's not each astir Nordstream.

Europe has a analyzable web of underwater vigor pipelines, galore successful the Baltic and the North Seas. Its waters are besides location to thousands of miles of submarine energy and net cables, keeping america connected, and enabling trillions of dollars' worthy of fiscal transactions a day.

The strategy is vulnerable, and if it shatters, it has the imaginable to provoke large societal unrest crossed the continent. This is simply a script the Kremlin mightiness welcome. It has been investing successful subsea capabilities for the past 2 decades, and Russia has the largest fleet of spy submarines successful the world.

Nato is scrambling to drawback up.

In the oculus of this geopolitical storm, is Nato subordinate Norway. Now the largest earthy state supplier to the UK and EU, and amidst concerns of sabotage and espionage, Norway's subject has stepped up surveillance dramatically on, supra and below, the North Sea.

The BBC and a German TV unit were granted uncommon entree to a Norwegian patrol of the galore lipid and state rigs successful its territorial waters.

We spent conscionable implicit 2 days connected committee the Jarl, a towering naval seashore defender vessel.

Massive floor-to-ceiling windows connected the span afforded a spectacular presumption of the lipid and state platforms, glimmering successful the uncommon sunshine. It was similar a metallic metropolis seascape connected stilts.

The vessel is equipped to beryllium steered from 4 main vantage points up there. And astatine night, the Jarl, similar different Norwegian subject vessels present patrolling the area, sails successful velvety darkness. Lights are turned retired connected the bridge. The unit likes to support their people unpredictable, they told me, and sometimes switches disconnected the Automatic Identification System (AIS) to beryllium capable to determination astir undetected.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Norwegian Navy, Rune Andersen, told maine Norway took its work arsenic a large vigor supplier seriously.

Energy information was cardinal for Europe, helium said. That is wherefore the navy was bolstering its beingness astatine sea, to marque radical consciousness safer and to enactment arsenic a deterrent.

"Honestly I was not expecting to beryllium doing this - patrolling vigor installations for security," 20-year-old Alexander told me. He is 1 of the galore subject conscripts I met connected committee the Jarl.

"The concern is simply a spot tense," continued Alexander. "Some radical successful my household aren't precise comfy astir maine doing this job. But there's nary menace to me. I consciousness safe. I consciousness our occupation is much important now."

Norway's navy keeps successful regular interaction with the backstage companies moving the lipid and state rigs.

Along with 2 officers, I got dressed into a snug orangish and achromatic thermal suit, gloves and helmet, earlier being lowered disconnected the broadside of the Jarl wrong a jet-propelled dinghy, and yet dropped, with a mighty splash, into the North Sea.

Before the pipeline attack, Norway's navy and seashore defender utilized these velocity boats for hunt and rescue missions and fishery inspections. Now, they are being called connected to analyse the expanding fig of drone sightings called successful by the lipid and state companies retired here.

Norway's premier minister, Jonas Gahr Støre describes this arsenic the tensest information concern the state has faced successful decades. The lipid and state companies are decidedly jumpy.

One of the naval officers confided that immoderate of the "drone" sightings crook retired to beryllium seagulls. But surely not each of them.

In Norway itself, Russian citizens person been banned from flying drones aft a fig of Russians suspected of gathering quality connected vigor infrastructure were arrested successful abstracted incidents. These included the lad of a adjacent person of Vladmir Putin, and a Brazilian world present believed to person been an undercover Russian agent.

The archetypal of this latest circular of arrests was successful aboriginal October successful Norway's chaotic and beauteous north, wherever the state comes face-to-face with Russia.

A 50-year-old antheral was apprehended astatine the Storskog crossing constituent - present the lone onshore borderline to Europe unfastened for Russian tourists - arsenic helium was leaving the country. He was reportedly successful possession of 2 Russian and 1 Israeli passports, 2 drones and a bid of partially encrypted photos and videos.

Moscow dismissed that arrest, and the different spying allegations against Russians successful Norway, arsenic "hysteria".

We travelled to the crossing point, connected the astir 200km-long Arctic border, to spot if Norway's heightened anxiousness implicit its neighbour is affecting the section assemblage there.

Solve Solheim, the caput of borderline surveillance for the area, told america the lawsuit had taken them by surprise. The encrypted photos and videos, ne'er caput drones and aggregate passports, was each highly antithetic - helium said.

He insists his state isn't overreacting. Norwegians had been possibly a spot naive successful the past regarding Russia, helium told us. Vladimir Putin's penetration of Ukraine, had served arsenic a world check.

Local constabulary person told residents to beryllium much watchful, and to study drone sightings, oregon vehicles and individuals, that mightiness look suspicious.

Living and moving truthful adjacent to Russia, and acold distant from the Norwegian superior Oslo, Solve Solheim says he's often felt connected the beforehand line. Now, helium said, it seemed similar a caller Cold War had returned to Europe.

Corner store owner, Alf Hammer told america that helium had ne'er seen a Russian until the extremity of the Cold War. Now, they were portion of the assemblage up here, helium said - joined to Norwegians, with families. His wife, Natalja, was primitively from St Petersburg.

They smilingly wrapped their arms astir 1 different to compression adjacent capable to talk simultaneously into our BBC vigor mic.

They were dismissive astir what they saw arsenic Russia-paranoia successful confederate Norway, particularly successful Oslo.

There, radical were much suspicious of Russians - Alf told america - due to the fact that they weren't exposed to them.

"Some idiot flies a drone and they marque a large fuss astir it," helium said.

"They don't each enactment the penetration of Ukraine, you know," Natalja said pointedly. "It's conscionable astatine location successful Russia, they can't accidental that."

But Norway's defence minister, Bjørn Arild Gram, told maine Norway had nary prime but to stay vigilant.

I met him portion helium was paying a sojourn to Norwegian Home Guard troops connected ticker astatine a cardinal lipid refinery - adjacent the country's 2nd city, Bergen.

"We conscionable don't cognize what mightiness happen. We perceive the sharpening rhetoric [from Moscow]. Energy is being weaponised successful this conflict. We successful Norway are present the biggest exporters of earthy state - truthful the infrastructure present is of immense strategical importance."

Norway has earned immense sums of wealth from vigor exports during the existent crisis. But it is present opening to consciousness the governmental heat.

Millions of families crossed Europe are fretting astir the coming winter. And governments successful Germany and the UK privation to cognize they truly tin trust connected Norway's vigor supply.

The 2 countries, positive France, are providing naval enactment to Norway astir its vigor infrastructure.

But Europe, erstwhile again, stands accused of having sleepwalked into an unnecessarily exposed position.

Back successful 2017, Rishi Sunak, present UK premier minister, was a not-very-prominent backbench MP. He wrote a insubstantial informing that a large-scale onslaught connected UK undersea infrastructure would beryllium an "existential menace to nationalist security". And helium called for steps to beryllium taken to mitigate risks and guarantee "our maritime assets are capable to the task".

Yet his defence secretary, Ben Wallace, precocious announced that the UK's archetypal multi-role water surveillance vessel would lone beryllium operational sometime adjacent year.

France, meanwhile, lone produced its seabed warfare strategy backmost successful February - aft Russia invaded Ukraine.

In Brussels, astatine Nato HQ, I spoke to the caput of the confederation - Norwegian, Jens Stoltenberg. He insisted Nato had been debating subsea information for a agelong time.

Could an onslaught connected captious underwater infrastructure beryllium considered an enactment of war, I asked.

Yes, said Jens Stoltenberg. It could trigger Nato's corporate defence clause - wherever an onslaught connected 1 state is considered an onslaught against all.

Strong words Nato would alternatively not enactment into practise. Its purpose remains to debar nonstop subject struggle with Russia - for obvious, perchance nuclear, reasons.

But arsenic it flounders militarily successful Ukraine, the Kremlin is waging determined, non-conventional warfare person to our homes.

By threatening our state supplies, Vladimir Putin aims to beforehand connected 2 different fronts. Hoping to weaken and destabilise Europe's governments and, arsenic a consequence, trim occidental enactment for Kyiv.