Russian Attack on Balticconnector Gas Pipeline: Finnish Government Press Conference and Investigation Update

Today at At 5:30 p.m., a Finnish government press conference on gas pipeline damage is scheduled.

“Apollo.lv” already reported that, according to a foreign affairs and security source, the Finnish government and Defense Forces suspect that Russia attacked the “Balticconnector” gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, “Postimees” writes, referring to the Finnish publication “Iltalehti”.

On Tuesday, the Finnish media Iltalehti reported that the government and the Defense Forces suspect that Russia attacked the gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia. The Finnish Defense Forces are currently investigating the damage to the gas pipeline.

Government sources confirmed to the media that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government will hold an additional press conference on the security situation, the exact information of which was previously strictly classified and known only to the country’s top officials.

According to the press release of the Finnish government, the authorities have discovered the location of the damage to the “Balticconnector” gas pipeline. In addition, damage was detected in the communication cable between the countries.

It is estimated that the gas pipeline will be out of service for several months.

“Although much remains to be clarified, Miloš Gapinskis wrote in mid-September in our Kaliningrad Military Digest column about the movement of the Russian hydrographic vessel Sibirjakov in the vicinity of the Balticconnector,” Konrāds Muzika, independent defense analyst and director of Rochan Consulting , wrote on the social network “X” (“Twitter”), “we are not pointing fingers, but it is very possible that the Russians observed the tube.”

The underwater gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia was closed on October 8 because of an unusual pressure drop, the Finnish gas system operator “Gasgrid” and the Estonian operator “Elering” announced.

“I don’t want to speculate on the cause of the leak,” a Gasgrid spokesman told Reuters on Sunday. He said the pipeline had been isolated to prevent a larger gas leak.

2023-10-10 14:01:25
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