Fourth leak appears in Nord Stream pipelines

NATO said Thursday that it would retaliate for any attacks against the critical infrastructure of its 30 member nations. It has officially deemed sabotage as the cause of four leaks from two natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. The pipelines, which run between Russia and Germany, were not in use, but they were filled with methane. The fear of further attacks on gas infrastructure has caused energy prices to soar even higher. They had already risen significantly since Russia cut off gas deliveries to Europe over sanctions levied against it for its invasion of Ukraine.

Is NATO saying Russia is responsible? NATO has refrained from accusing Russia of conducting sabotage. Russia has denied involvement with the damage to the pipelines. Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, has said that terrorism from a state actor was probably involved, but has also called the Western reports on the event “biased” and “predictable and stupid.”

Dig deeper: Listen to my report on The World and Everything in It podcast about the response to Russia drafting more fighters for the war in Ukraine.