European countries on Tuesday raced to find out if there was a leak in two Russian gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea near Sweden and Denmark, infrastructure at the heart of an energy crisis due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Experts and Russia, which built the network, said that the possibility of sabotage could not be ruled out.
Sweden s Maritime Authority issued a warning about two leaks in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, shortly after a leak on the nearby Nord Stream 2 pipeline discovered that had prompted Denmark to restrict shipping in a five nautical mile radius.
Both pipelines have become flash points in an escalating energy war between European capitals and Moscow that has pummeled major Western economies, sent gas prices soaring and sparked a hunt for alternative energy supplies.
Russia said the Russian network leaks are cause for concern and sabotage is one possible cause. A Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that no option can be ruled out right now.
The leaks were found in Ukraine, but neither pipeline was sending gas to Europe, but the incidents will scupper any remaining expectations that Europe could receive gas via Nord Stream 1 before winter.
The destruction that occurred on the same day on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system is unprecedented, said network operator Nord Stream AG. It is not yet possible to estimate the timing of the restoration of the gas transport infrastructure. Both pipelines contained gas under pressure, although neither were in operation.
Denmark's energy minister Dan Jorgensen said in a written comment that leaking gas had been detected in Nord Stream 2 on Monday between Russia and Denmark.
Gazprom, a Russian gas exporter with a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, declined to comment.
Russia slashed gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream 1 before suspending flows altogether in August, blaming Western sanctions for technical difficulties. European politicians say that was a pretext to stop supplying gas.
The new Nord Stream 2 pipeline had yet to enter commercial operations. Germany scrapped the plan to use it to supply gas days before Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February.
The leaks occurred just before the ceremonial launch of the Baltic Pipe carrying gas from Norway to Poland, a centerpiece of Warsaw's efforts to diversify from Russian supplies.
Norway s Petroleum Safety Authority PSA has urged oil companies to be vigilant about unidentified drones seen flying near Norwegian offshore oil and gas platforms, warning of possible attacks.
A spokesman for the SwedishMaritime Administration SMA said there were two leaks on Nord Stream 1, one in the Swedish economy zone and another in the Danish zone, and both leaks were in an area northeast of the Danish island Bornholm.
A SMA spokeswoman said we are keeping extra watch to make sure no ship comes too close to the site.
There might be a risk of gas igniting over the water and in the air and there could be no security risks associated with the leak outside the exclusion zone, according to the Danish energy agency.
The leak would only affect the environment locally, meaning only the area where the gas plume is located would be affected, it said, adding that escaping greenhouse gas methane would have a damaging impact on the climate.