British defense source says Russia likely used underwater drone to bomb Nord Stream pipeline

This is reported by The Times with reference to an informed source.

The most likely scenario, according to the source, is that Russia secretly delivered an autonomous underwater vehicle with cargo to separate locations on pipelines built to transport Russian gas to Europe.

According to the source, the underwater vehicle could have been launched from a small vessel, such as a fishing boat, several months ago, and then explosive devices could have been dropped near the pipelines.

"They could have been there for months, waiting for them to explode," the interlocutor of The Times said. According to the source, the explosion could be initiated, for example, with the help of a noise source of a certain frequency, which could be thrown into the water at the time required by the Russian Federation.

It is known that the Nord Streams are surrounded by a steel body with a thickness of 27 to 41 millimeters, as well as a concrete coating with a thickness of 60 to 110 millimeters. It would take a lot of explosives to break through them.

Experts reject the version with submarines, because the water in the Baltic Sea is not deep enough for their deployment.