Sept. 28 (UPI) -- The European Union on Wednesday said breaches in the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines happened because of a "deliberate act" but stopped short of blaming Russia for the leaks.
German and Danish officials reported drops in natural gas levels in the pipelines because of leaks in the underwater pipelines that run 725 miles at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. While the pipelines were idle due to Russia's energy slow during its war in Ukraine, they still contained natural gas.
European seismologists said they detected explosions near the pipeline at the time the breaches were reported.
"These incidents are not a coincidence and affect us all," the European Council said in a statement. "All available information indicates those leaks are the result of a deliberate act. We will support any investigation aimed at getting full clarity on what happened and why and will take further steps to increase our resilience in energy security.
"Any deliberate disruption of European energy infrastructure is utterly unacceptable and will be met with a robust and united response."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called what happened to the pipelines sabotage, but officials were still probing what happened.
"Paramount to now investigate the incidents, get full clarity on events and why," von der Leyen said on Twitter. "Any deliberate disruption of active European energy infrastructure is unacceptable and will lead to the strongest possible response."
Bjorn Lund, director of the Swedish National Seismic Network, said one seismic activity around the pipeline registered a magnitude of 2.3, which may have been caused by undersea detonations.
"You can clearly see how the waves bounce from the bottom to the surface," Lund said, according to The Guardian. "There is no doubt that it was a blast. We even had a station in Gnosjo that picked this up.
Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, called the pipeline damage "very concerning" and said that "no option can be ruled out right now."