MOSCOW, June 14. /TASS/. Given the West’s involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Russia should have a free hand to destroy Western seabed communications cables, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev warned on Wednesday.

"Now that the Western countries’ complicity in the sabotage of the Nord Streams has been proven, there should be no constraints, even moral ones, on us to prevent us from destroying our enemies’ seabed communications cables," the senior politician wrote on his Telegram channel.

Nord Stream sabotage

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, 2022, Swedish seismologists registered two explosions on the pipeline routes. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office launched a criminal case in connection with the incident based on charges of international terrorism.

On February 8, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published an article claiming, citing anonymous sources, that US Navy divers had planted explosive devices under the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines under the cover of the BALTOPS naval exercise in June 2022, and that the Norwegians then 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 national security advisers.

The White House has categorically denied the claims. The New York Times reported earlier, citing American officials, that a certain "pro-Ukrainian group" had the intention of blowing up the gas pipeline running from Russia to Germany.

Nord Stream probe

Russia has repeatedly complained that no probe into the incident is actually taking place, with Moscow being kept away from any investigation.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier demanded "a transparent and urgent international probe," which he said was not currently happening. He insisted that no doubt remained that the sabotage was deliberate.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said the United States has been staying mum on the Nord Streams because Washington itself is involved in extremist and criminal activities and that every word could be used against it.