The blasts at the Nord Stream pipeline in September were caused by an act of sabotage, Swedish prosecutors said Friday after evidence of explosives was discovered at the sites by investigators. In a statement, Mats Ljungqvist, the prosecutor leading the preliminary investigation, described the incident as “gross sabotage,” adding that “traces of explosives” were found at the scene. The preliminary investigation will continue and has yet to determine any charges, the statement said. Denmark last month said a preliminary investigation had shown they were caused by powerful explosions. Nord Stream pipelines 1 and 2 were created to funnel gas from Russia into the European Union, and were controversial long before Russia waged war on Ukraine.

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