UNITED NATIONS, February 22. /TASS/. Russia views the blasts that damaged the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines as an act of international terrorism, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya has said.

"As many of you surely remember, back then [in late September 2022] it was already clear who may be standing behind that act of international terrorism, for this is how we qualify this incident," he told a meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday.

The Russian diplomat also underscored the importance of bringing those responsible to justice in order to prevent "an era of chaos and unspeakable harm to the entire humanity."

"Odds are huge that this era may truly come, unless those responsible for the sabotage of the Nord Stream are identified and held duly accountable. And unless those who masterminded this crime reimburse for the damage that occurred with the affected states - the way international law (and basic principles of justice) see it. Then and only then we will have a chance to avoid this chaos," the diplomat said.

On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported unprecedented damage that occurred the day before on three strings of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines. On September 26, Swedish seismologists registered two explosions on the pipeline routes. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office launched a criminal case based on charges of international terrorism.

On February 8, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an article, which said, citing sources, that US Navy divers had planted explosive devices under the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines under the cover of the BALTOPS exercise in June 2022, and Norwegians activated the bombs three months later. According to the journalist, the decision to conduct the operation was made by US President Joe Biden personally, following nine months of discussions with White House security specialists. White House National Security Council Spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a comment to TASS that Hersh’s account was "utterly false and complete fiction.".