Sweden to wrap up Nord Stream explosions investigation

Swedish media outlet Expressen has reported, citing its German partners’ sources, that the Swedish investigation of the Nord Stream explosions will be closed.

Public prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist, who is in charge of the ongoing investigation concerning the detonations at the gas pipes Nord Stream 1 and 2, said on 5 February that the investigation was drawing to a conclusion, but did not specify when its outcome will be reported. He said the investigation was conducted in close collaboration with Germany.

On 6 February, several German media outlets, including Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR, and Zeit, reported that the investigation will be closed.

If this is indeed the case, the closure might be related to the lack of a "Swedish footprint" in the explosions.

Ljungqvist had previously said that the goal of the Swedish investigation was to find out whether any of the activities that lead to the explosions unfolded on Swedish territory, and whether this had harmed the country’s interests and security.

The closure of the investigation in Sweden will not affect the investigations conducted by the German and Danish authorities.

German media reported that German investigators are now hoping to receive material evidence from Sweden, including fragments of the exploded pipe, as this could play a very important role in the German investigation. 

An official announcement on the Swedish investigation is expected on Wednesday 7 February.

In March 2023, The New York Times published an article that cited sources and data from the intelligence community and claimed that groups unaffiliated with state governments that included both Russian and Ukrainian citizens were behind the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Other media outlets later reported that Dutch intelligence officials had learned of what it thought was an aborted plot by the Ukrainians to attack the Nord Stream pipelines and shared this information with the US Central Intelligence Agency.

In May 2023, an investigation by Nordic journalists found that Russian ships had at least three times been near the areas where the Nord Stream gas pipeline exploded, including five days before the incident.

Ukraine denies any involvement in the Nord Stream explosions.