Sabotage caused Nord Stream leak, Sweden confirms

Debris collected from the site of the ruptured Nord Stream gas pipelines have revealed evidence of explosives, indicating an act of "gross sabotage", Swedish prosecutors said on Friday, backing up European authorities' earlier assertions that blasts had deliberately targeted the critical infrastructure.

A series of undersea explosions ripped holes in the Nord Stream pipelines in late September, damaging the links built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany and rendering them unusable.

The statement from the Swedish prosecutors provides the first public forensic confirmation that explosives were found at the site.