Explosions were recorded before mysterious leaks in two Baltic Sea gas pipelines linking Russia and Europe, seismologists said Tuesday, raising suspicions of sabotage amid tensions over Moscow's war in Ukraine. Photos taken by the Danish military showed large masses of bubbles on the surface of the water emanating from the three leaks in Sweden and Denmark's economic zones north of Poland, from 200 to 1,000 metres (656 feet to 0.62 miles) in diameter. Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that while the details of what happened were not yet known, "we see clearly that it's an act of sabotage, one that probably marks the next step of escalation of the situation in Ukraine". Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen meanwhile said it was "hard to imagine that it's accidental". The Swedish National Seismic Network recorded two "massive releases of energy" shortly before the gas leaks near their locations off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm, Uppsala University seismologist Peter Schmidt told AFP. "With energy releases this big there isn't much else than a blast that could cause it," he added. "You can see that they are quite sudden. It is a very sudden energy release.
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