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  State Duma head directs lawmakers to assess losses suffered by Russia's energy system, company Gazprom, and environment as result of explosions in Sept. last year
• By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) – Russia's lower house of parliament, formally known as the State Duma, voted unilaterally on Thursday to prepare an appeal to the UN Security Council, asking for an investigation into the explosions at Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

In a plenary session in Moscow, Chairman of the State Duma Vyachslav Volodin also directed lawmakers to assess the losses suffered by the Russian energy system, company Gazprom, and the environment as a result of these explosions.

"An appeal to the UN is the right step, but we also have to ask from the states that are related to this. ... Let's calculate what damage our company Gazprom has suffered. What damage has the environment suffered, and what damage has been done to it? If European countries are going to forgive all this to (US President Joe) Biden, let them sort it out among themselves. We are not going to," Volodin said.

A lot of money from foreign states is allocated to bank accounts in Russia, he said, warning that if Russian assets are expropriated abroad, foreign money may be used for compensation.

The blasts took place on Sept. 26 last year, causing major ruptures and gas leaks from the two pipelines that run from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Officials from countries in the region have said sabotage was a likely cause of the incident.

On Feb.8, an American investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh published the results of his own investigation into the explosions, claiming that the US Navy divers, with the support of Norwegian specialists, laid explosive devices under Russian gas pipelines in June 2022 under the cover of the Baltops military exercises.

According to Hersh, the decision about the operation was made by US President Biden following nine months of discussions with administration officials, responsible for national security issues.