Information.dk, a Danish news outlet, reports that a Russian special vessel SS-750 was near the Nord Stream pipelines days before they were blown up. The SS-750 is equipped with a submarine and is used for underwater missions. It was already known that this boat could have been in the area, based on satellite imagery, but the Danes are now confirming it.
There are still ongoing investigations by Danish, German, and Swedish authorities into the Nord Stream 2 explosion.
It seems crazy to me that the Russians would blow up one of their own pieces of infrastructure, but then I thought the decision to invade Ukraine was also sure to bring disaster to Russia in the long term. And, in fact, stranger things have happened in war. It’s possible that Russia saw in it some opportunity to further raise energy prices in Europe, which has had the effect of enriching Russian government coffers over the past year.
The photos do not prove Russia’s authorship of the explosion, but they are suggestive.