Spokeswoman Rejects ‘Absurd’ Claims of Russia ‘Destroying’ Nord Stream Pipelines

"We have pointed out that the accusations that were made and continue to be made against our country of ‘destroying’ Nord Stream are absurd. I would like to emphasize that enormous investment was poured into this infrastructure project. It’s not about funds that were wasted, it was a major investment that resulted in the creation of a unique, safe and effective system for providing energy to the European continent," she said, TASS reported.

When speaking about a UN Security Council meeting on the rupture of the three threads of the Nord Stream pipelines, Zakharova pointed out that all UNSC members had recognized that it was a deliberate act of sabotage and supported the need for a transparent international investigation.

"It seems to me that any more or less educated person would agree that Russia’s participation in such an investigation is crucial. Neither lawyers, nor engineers, nor financiers, nor public figures can imagine such a probe without the party that owns it all. Yet, it turns out that this is possible, because a number of Security Council members say that not only will they not invite Russia, but they will not even allow it to take part in their investigations," the diplomat said.

In this regard, Zakharova mentioned the 2014 Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash. "When was Malaysia allowed to join the investigation? When was it included in the so-called task force? It did not happen right away, it took a long time. However, it was Malaysia’s Boeing aircraft," the diplomat stressed.

"When the owners are kept away from investigations, it means that something is being hidden from them," Zakharova pointed out.

Unprecedented damage to three threads of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines was detected on September 26. Swedish seismologists recorded two explosions along the pipelines. Investigators from Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) later opened a criminal case into an act of international terrorism over the blasts. It is currently impossible to figure out how long it will take to restore the pipelines to operational capacity.