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A series of underwater explosions were detected in Russian waters by Finnish seismologists last Thursday and Friday, with the circumstances behind them still unclear.
The five explosions were detected by researchers at the Institute of Seismology at the University of Helsinki. They determined that the blasts took place in the Gulf of Finland near the Russian town of Vyborg, which is located close to the border with Finland and a roughly three-hour drive east of the Finnish capital, Helsinki.
Timo Tiira, director of the institute, told Newsweek that four explosions took place between 9:35 a.m. and 3:33 p.m. UTC on October 20, with a further explosion occurring at 00:08 a.m. UTC on October 21.
The strength of the explosions ranged from 1.3 to 1.8, when measured in terms of earthquake magnitude. This is too weak to be felt by people, but strong enough to be measured by a seismograph—an instrument used to detect earthquakes.
"Signal characteristics show that these events are explosions, not earthquakes," Tiira said. He added that "events" had been detected in the area before, but they did not happen every year.
Tiira said the team does not know of any infrastructure in the area. "The Nord Stream pipe runs more northeast," he added. The team is due to check the depth of the explosions.
Aki Heikkinen, who runs independent Twitter analysis of Russian military activity, tweeted on Monday that the area was apparently not cordoned off. Newsweek could not independently verify this.
Apparently no NAVWARNs were issued (thanks @The_Lookout_N) and two were on shipping lanes (thanks @pmakela1)
— Aki Heikkinen (@akihheikkinen) October 24, 2022
So something was blown up with significant amount of explosives - without cordoning the area off as should have happened with lane works or naval exercise.
2/2
The reported explosions come amid the ongoing investigation into mysterious blasts that destroyed part of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany, in late September.
Investigations revealed significant damage to the pipeline, with 50 metres (164 feet) missing from a section, according to Swedish newspaper Expressen.
Despite police investigations, it is still not known why the explosions occurred.
Russia built the pipeline with foreign partners and uses it to supply energy to other parts of Europe. European states and the U.S. have blamed the pipeline explosions on sabotage, but it is not known who might have been behind it.
Russia has said that the U.S. and/or its allies were behind the blasts. Its foreign ministry stated that the ruptures in the pipeline occurred in territory "fully under the control" of U.S. intelligence agencies, Reuters reported on September 29. America has denied involvement.
The explosions took place as European governments grapple with an ongoing energy crisis with winter approaching, partly due to Russian gas supplies being cut off amid political turmoil between Russia and the West over the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Russia supplies 40 percent of the European Union's gas consumption via pipeline, though exports have been cut by 75 percent this year.
