According to reports, the nord stream 1 and 2 pipelines are majority owned by the russian state run energy company, Gazprom. Nord stream 1 used to carry natural gas from Russia to europe via the Baltic Sea and Germany, it was completed in 2011. Reportedly, the project was opposed from the start by the west. Russia’s invasion of the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine in 2014 rendered an ethical argument.
Nord stream 2 was completed in 2021. According to a report, the u.s. waived sanctions against german entities involved in nord stream 2 after securing a pledge from Germany that it would allow backflows of gas into Ukraine and would act to shut it down should Russia use it to force political concessions.
Reportedly, Germany withdrew its permission for nord stream 2 following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. According to the report, russian sanctions resulted in Gazprom halting the gas flow in nord stream 1. Reportedly, three weeks later nord stream 1 and 2 were hit by explosions in the Baltic Sea causing leaks of gas that were idle in the pipelines. According to the report, no entity has admitted responsibility, though the depth of the pipeline and the complexity of using under water explosives lent credance to the idea that only a state actor with the expertise to handle such an operation could be responsible.