Russia urges U.S. to prove innocence over Nord Stream incident

MOSCOW, Feb. 17 (Xinhua) -- The United States should try to prove its innocence of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the Russian Embassy in the United States said on Thursday.

The Russian side will not allow to simply turn the page on destroying critical energy infrastructure, especially given the fact that nothing is known about the remaining explosives on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, the embassy's press secretary Igor Girenko said in a statement.

"We qualify the incident as an act of international terrorism that requires a comprehensive and independent investigation. The United States, claiming to be the source of the 'ultimate truth,' should drop the baseless accusations against us and get down to business," Girenko said.

In an article published last week, Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh revealed that the United States partnered with Norway in a top-secret operation in June 2022 to plant remotely triggered explosives that took out three of the four Nord Stream pipes three months later.