The two Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by explosions. (File)
At least 50 metres of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline has been destroyed or buried under the seafloor, following an explosion assumed to be from sabotage, underwater images published Tuesday showed.
In videos published by newspaper Expressen, a massive tear and twisted metal can be seen on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline 80 metres down.
According to the newspaper, the videos that were filmed on Monday show how over 50 metres of the pipeline is either missing or buried under the seabed, and long tears can be observed on the seabed leading up to the burst pipe.
"It is only an extreme force that can bend metal that thick in the way we are seeing," Trond Larsen, drone operator with the Norwegian company Blueye Robotics, told Expressen.
Larsen, who piloted the submersible drone which captured the video, also said you could also see "a very large impact on the seabed around the pipe."
The two Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by explosions under the Baltic Sea at the end of September, causing four leaks.
While the leaks were in international waters, two of them were in the Danish exclusive economic zone and two of them in the Swedish.
Swedish authorities announced on October 6 that they had conducted an underwater inspection of the site and collected "pieces of evidence," and that the inspection backed up suspicions of probable sabotage.
The pipelines, which connect Russia to Germany, have been at the centre of geopolitical tensions as Russia cut gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation against Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Although the pipelines were not in operation, they contained gas before falling victim to the apparent sabotage.
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