Shortly before the Nord Stream pipeline was blown up near Bornholm in September 2022, Danish Defence was aware of Russian ships in the area.

An inspection of documents by the daily newspaper Information reveals that a Danish Defence patrol boat took 112 pictures of Russian vessels in the area around the explosions.

In the area of the explosion
The pictures were taken from the boat during a patrol which, based on the sailing pattern, focused on the area where an explosion occurred around Nord Stream a few days later.

However, a general file access request was rejected, as they “are part of the intelligence work, which is why they are exempt from file access”, Defence Command said.

Ongoing investigations
The explosions took place off the coasts of Bornholm and southern Sweden. They were linked to the war that Russia started in Ukraine last February. 

There is currently a joint investigation underway in Denmark, Sweden and Germany. But the three countries have recently stated that they have not finished their investigation and therefore cannot come to any conclusions.