The insurers of the Nord Stream pipelines refused to pay a $426m blast damage claim due to an exclusion clause triggered by attacks by government entities during war, according to UK court filings.

The two 1,224-km natural gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea were ruptured in September 2022 in a suspected state-backed attack linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The attack contributed to the European Union rethinking its maritime defence strategies.