According to German newspaper Bild, sensitive military information may have been leaked to Russia during the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The prosecutor’s office alleges that in a suspected leak in 2018, classified information was made publicly available on the website of a mining authority in the city of Stralsund.
Pipelines built to transport Russian natural gas through the Pisces Sea directly to Germany were rendered unusable by powerful underwater explosions in international waters near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022. Germany, Sweden and Denmark are investigating the incident separately, but it has yet to be determined who is responsible for the attack. Swedish authorities announced earlier this month that they had closed the investigation.
In an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson in early February, Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed the finger at the United States.
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Bild newspaper reported on Sunday that the German Public Prosecutor’s Office informed the Defense Ministry on December 11, 2023 that “an investigation has been launched by the Stralsund mining authority into the possible publication of military information on the operational areas of NATO submarines.” Local authorities are suspected of disclosing state secrets during the planning process of Nord Stream 2 construction, the report said.
“The Stralsund mining authority published the German Navy shot numbers classified as ‘secret – for internal use only’ on page 556 in the planning approval decision for Nord Stream 2 of January 31, 2018,” Bild newspaper reported, citing Defense Ministry sources.
According to the newspaper, this information could be used to draw conclusions about the operational capabilities of the navy. Bild claimed that this was evidence that the Russian government was trying to learn the diving locations of submarines in the Baltic Sea, as well as Germany’s military drones.
The article also suggested that this information could have been used by saboteurs who blew up gas pipelines in September 2022.
Citing a number of officials, Bild reported last month that multiple “suspicious” drone detections had been made over German military installations since October 2022, including locations where Ukrainian soldiers were training.
The newspaper wrote that German authorities were quick to blame Russia for the incidents, although no concrete evidence could be obtained. It also claimed that the Bundeswehr’s Homeland Defense Command appeared to have washed its hands of the drone issue after attempts to squeeze them had failed.
