The functionary gave an interview to the Kommersant newspaper referring specifically to the accession of Sweden and Finland into NATO and the attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which transported fuel from Russia to Germany.

On September 26th, 2022, three of the four lines of the Russian Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines were sabotaged with explosive charges at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, near a Danish island and off the Swedish coast, areas infested with NATO warships.

A journalistic investigation by Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Seymour Hersh revealed that US military divers placed explosive charges under Russian gas pipelines in June 2022 during NATO’s Baltops exercises.

Citing sources with direct knowledge of the operational planning of the attacks, Hersh accused the Norwegian military of setting off the explosives three months later, causing serious damage to the pipelines.

Hersh claimed that US President Joe Biden approved the sabotage after more than nine months of secret discussions with his national security team.

Nikolai Patrushev believes that “the Americans and their European allies have the goal of militarizing the Baltic Sea.”

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