Four days before it was blown up, a Russian naval vessel with a mini-submarine was seen near Nord Stream pipelines

A Russian naval vessel specializing in submarine operations was photographed near the sabotaged Nord Stream gas pipelines shortly before mysterious explosions in September, Danish daily Information Friday reported.

The newspaper said the SS-750 submarine rescue ship was photographed in the Baltic Sea four days before the still unexplained explosions at the pipelines connecting Russia and Germany.

The SS-750 has its own mini-submarine called the AS-26, which can reach a depth of 80 meters and carry loads of up to 50 kg.

“The Danish military has confirmed that 26 photos of the Russian ship were taken on 22 September 2022 by a Danish patrol boat in the zone east of Bornholm,” the information reads.

The Danish military did not respond to a request for comment.

In this file photo taken on September 27, 2022, this handout photo released by the Danish Defense Command shows the gas leak at the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline

Seven months after the spectacular explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, it is still not clear who is responsible, despite criminal investigations in neighboring Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

READ MORE: Russia uses ‘ghost’ spy ships disguised as fishing boats off UK coast to map North Sea wind farms for sabotage attacks, study claims

The New York Times reported in March that US officials had received new information suggesting that a “pro-Ukrainian group” without involvement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was responsible.

German prosecutors said at the time that investigators had searched a ship believed to contain explosives used in the January blasts.

The prosecutor leading the Swedish investigation said in March that it was “still unclear” who was behind the sabotage and called it “a complex case”.

“Our main assumption is that there is a state behind it,” says Mats Ljungqvist.

“The people who did this probably knew they were going to leave clues and probably made sure that the evidence didn’t point in one direction, but in several directions,” he added.

A former Danish intelligence officer turned analyst, Jacob Kaarsbo, told Information that the SS-750’s presence in the zone “illuminates what has happened in the region over the past few days.”

The confirmation is of particular importance “because we know that she is capable of carrying out such an operation,” he said.

Earlier this month, it was claimed that Russia was using “ghost” spy ships disguised as fishing boats off the British coast to map wind farms and communications cables for sabotage attacks if it went to war with the West.

The fleet of Russian ships, disguised as fishing boats and research vessels, is said to be cruising the North Sea collecting data on the location of wind farms, gas pipelines and power and internet cables.

According to a documentary aired by public broadcasters in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland, the ships conduct underwater surveillance to find out how the infrastructure is connected to plan sabotage attacks against the West.

Russia is aiming to plan sabotage attacks in case it goes to war with the West, with the aim of disrupting Europe’s electricity supply, intelligence sources have warned.

“In the event of a conflict with the West, they are ready and know where to intervene if they want to shut down Danish society,” Danish intelligence chief Anders Henriksen told Danish DR.

“This is a strategic capability for Russia, which is considered very important and is managed directly from Moscow,” added Nils Andreas Stensones, head of Norway’s intelligence service.

Intercepted Russian Navy radio traffic reveals Russia uses ‘ghost ships’ in the North Sea. These vessels have switched off their transmitters and are therefore untraceable in international waters.

Russia is using “ghost” spy ships disguised as fishing boats off the British coast to map wind farms and communications cables for sabotage attacks if it goes to war with the West, an investigation claims. Last November, Admiral Vladimirsky (pictured) sailed around the Kattegat between Denmark and Sweden without revealing his location for a month.

The video shows a man in a mask holding a Russian military semi-automatic rifle stepping onto the upper deck as a DR journalist approaches Admiral Vladimirsky in a dinghy. Several other men also came forward

On Wednesday, the Kremlin dismissed the media’s claims as “errors” and “baseless” and reiterated its call for “a transparent and impartial international investigation” into the September 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

The Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, meanwhile, said the claims in the documentary were “serious”.

“It just shows that we have a very risky situation in our immediate environment,” he told reporters at a naval base in southern Sweden.

Broadcasters DR in Denmark, NRK in Norway, SVT in Sweden and Yle in Finland have all pointed out that the Russian naval ship Admiral Vladimirsky is being used for intelligence gathering – and not for marine research, as Russia says.