BERLIN/MILAN (Reuters) -A Ukrainian man was arrested at a holiday bungalow in Italy on suspicion of coordinating attacks on three Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022, officials said on Thursday, a breakthrough in an episode that sharpened tensions between Russia and the West.
Described by both Moscow and the West as an act of sabotage, the explosions largely severed Russian gas supplies to Europe, prompting a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and squeezing energy supplies on the continent. No one has taken responsibility for the blasts and Ukraine has denied any role.
The arrest comes just as Kyiv is engaged in fraught diplomatic discussions with the United States over how to end the war in Ukraine without giving away major concessions and swathes of its own territory to Russia.
&#8220;Politically we are firmly on Ukraine&#8217;s side and will continue to be so,&#8221; said Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig when asked if the arrest would affect Berlin&#8217;s ties to Kyiv. &#8220;What is important for me is that Germany is a country of law, and crimes in our jurisdiction are fully investigated.&#8221;
The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, was part of a group of people who planted devices on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, a statement from the prosecutor&#8217;s office said.
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He and his accomplices had set off from Rostock on Germany&#8217;s northeastern coast in a sailing yacht to carry out the attack, it said. The vessel had been rented from a German company with the help of forged identity documents via middlemen, it added.
Authorities acted on a European arrest warrant for the suspect, who faces charges of collusion to cause an explosion, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of important structures.
An official in the Ukrainian president&#8217;s office said he could not comment as it was not clear who had been arrested. The official reiterated Ukraine&#8217;s denial of any role in the blasts.
Successive Ukrainian governments have seen the pipelines as a symbol of, and vehicle for, Russia&#8217;s hold over European energy supplies that Kyiv argued made it hard to act against Moscow ever since Russia&#8217;s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
FORMER UKRAINIAN OFFICER?
The Wall Street Journal reported that the suspect was a retired captain in Ukraine’s armed forces and previously served in Ukraine’s security service SBU, as well as in an elite unit that defended Kyiv in the early months of Russia&#8217;s full-scale invasion in 2022.
The officer purportedly headed a team of two soldiers and four civilian divers covertly recruited by a special Ukrainian military unit to lay explosives that damaged the undersea pipelines, the WSJ said, citing investigators.
German prosecutors declined to comment on the WSJ report.
Carabinieri officers arrested the suspect overnight in San Clemente on Italy&#8217;s Adriatic coast, where he was supposed to spend a few days with his family.
&#8220;Once his presence had been verified, the Carabinieri surrounded the bungalow and launched a raid, during which the man surrendered without resistance,&#8221; a statement by the Carabinieri said, adding the suspect was 49 years old.
A police official told Reuters the suspect was arrested because, when providing documents at a hotel check-in, an alert flagging he was wanted popped up at the police headquarters, which dispatched a Carabinieri police patrol.
In September 2022, one of the two lines of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was damaged by mysterious blasts, along with both lines of Nord Stream 1 that carried Russian gas to Europe.
Moscow, without providing evidence, blamed Western sabotage for the blasts, which cut off most Russian gas supplies to the lucrative European market. The U.S. denied having anything to do with the attacks.
The Washington Post and Germany&#8217;s Der Spiegel magazine have previously said the team that carried out the attack was put together by a former Ukrainian intelligence officer, who denied involvement.
In January 2023, Germany raided a ship that it said may have been used to transport explosives and told the United Nations it believed trained divers could have attached devices to the pipelines at about 70 to 80 metres deep.
The boat, leased in Germany via a Poland-registered company, contained traces of octogen, the same explosive that was found at the underwater blast sites, according to the investigations by Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
Russia&#8217;s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered Europe&#8217;s deadliest conflict in 80 years, in which analysts say more than 1 million people have been killed or injured.
(Reporting by Rachel More, Philippe LeroyBeaulieu, Sarah Marsh, Giulio Piovaccari, Gavin Jones, Thomas Escritt, Tom Balmforth, Stine Jacobsen; writing by Matthias WilliamsEditing by Gareth Jones and Philippa Fletcher)

Gas leak at Nord Stream 2 as seen from the Danish F-16 interceptor on Bornholm

Ukrainian Man Arrested For Nord Stream Attacks Heightens Tensions Between Russia And The West

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U.S. intelligence reportedly heard months before three explosions ripped through the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nord-stream-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nord Stream</a> 1 and 2 pipelines that <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ukraine</a> was planning a covert attack on the infrastructure.
The Biden administration received intelligence from a close European ally in June 2022 that Ukrainian special forces operatives being directed by Ukraine’s highest-ranking military official, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, were planning to sabotage the pipelines, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/06/06/nord-stream-pipeline-explosion-ukraine-russia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>. The U.S. intelligence document describing the intelligence was part of dozens of documents allegedly leaked online by Air National Guard member Jack Teixeira.
The Nord Stream network has long been a point of consternation for Ukraine. The pipelines made Europe more reliant on Russian natural gas while at the same time bypassing Ukrainian pipelines that would have awarded the country some portion of the profits, if used.
The pipelines blew up last September in what international investigators said appeared to be an act of sabotage. The pipelines’ destruction ahead of winter caused widespread concern that Europe would not have enough energy to keep warm when temperatures dropped. Russia, by that time, had severely restricted the amount of fuel it was sending to Europe through the pipelines in what was likely retaliation for Europe’s support of Ukraine and sanctions on Russia.
The plan, given to the CIA, involved a team of six Ukraine special forces members and was being run by Zaluzhny, according to the intelligence. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was to be kept in the dark about the operation.
Investigators have not determined if Ukraine planned and carried out the September attack on the pipeline. The operation outlined to U.S. intelligence three months before the attack shares significant similarities with how German investigators understand the operation to have happened.
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German investigators <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-blew-up-nord-stream-investigators-focus-on-six-mysterious-passengers-on-a-yacht-25b47e9b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in March that a group of six men who used fake passports to rent a yacht and sail around the Baltic Sea are suspected of planting explosives on the pipelines. The plan outlined to U.S. intelligence in June 2022 said six operatives using fake IDs would rent a boat and use a submersible to reach the bottom of the sea and sabotage the pipelines, according to the Post.
U.S. officials said in March that new intelligence pointed to a “pro-Ukrainian group” being behind the attack, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/us/politics/nord-stream-pipeline-sabotage-ukraine.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a> reported. Those officials reportedly did not have conclusive evidence linking the sabotage to Zelensky or his top lieutenants.
The revelation about the June U.S. intelligence report comes as Ukraine appears to be launching its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia to reclaim eastern areas of the country still under Russian occupation.

Nord Stream 1

Ukraine Made Plans To Sabotage Nord Stream Pipelines Months Before Attack: Report

Danish investigators invited the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nord-stream-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nord Stream</a> pipelines’ Russian operator to inspect and help recover an unidentified object found near the only remaining intact pipeline on Thursday.
Last week, the pipelines’ Swiss-based operator found the cylindrical object jutting over a foot out of the seabed during an inspection of the last intact pipeline, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/denmark-invites-nord-stream-operator-help-salvage-unidentified-object-2023-03-23/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>. The other three pipelines that make up the Nord Stream network, which carries natural gas from Russia to Germany, were blown up in September in what several countries’ investigators have said was an intentional act of sabotage.
“With a view to further clarifying the nature of the object, Danish authorities have decided to salvage the object with assistance from the Danish Defence,” Denmark’s Energy Agency said in a statement Thursday. “The Danish Energy Agency has in that context invited the owner of the pipeline, Nord Stream 2 AG, to participate in the operation.”
Despite months of investigating, officials have yet to formally accuse anyone of blowing up the pipelines. German investigators have said the party of a yacht rented several weeks before the explosions is raising red flags. The mysterious crew, which rented the boat on September 6, has ties to Ukraine, investigators <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/nord-stream-pipeline-blasts-lead-to-ukraine-media-reports-germany/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissed questions that Ukraine’s government had been involved in the Nord Stream explosions.
“Although I enjoy collecting amusing conspiracy theories about the [Ukrainian] government, I have to say: [Ukraine] has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about ‘pro-[Ukraine] sabotage groups,’” Podolyak <a href="https://twitter.com/Podolyak_M/status/1633160394427494415" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a post on social media.
Investigators say that the 50-foot-long yacht Andromeda, rented from a harbor in northern Germany, could have served as a staging point for divers to swim down to the pipelines on the bed of the Baltic Sea and rig them with explosives. The boat carried traces of explosives when investigators examined it.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was under suspicion of ordering the sabotage early on, though no evidence has been found connecting Russia with the explosions. It is unclear what motive Putin would have to carry out the attack, and skeptics have pointed out that if Russia wanted the pipelines offline, it could have cut off the supply of fuel.
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Putin has dismissed reports that suggested Ukraine or pro-Ukraine militants were responsible for sabotaging the pipeline.
“One should always look for those who are interested. And who is interested? Theoretically, of course, the United States is interested,” Putin <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/putin-says-nord-stream-blasts-carried-out-state-level-2023-03-14/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. The Russian president added that whoever was responsible needed state support to pull it off.
The United States has been pointed to as a potential culprit, earning early suspicion because of some of President Joe Biden’s past opposition to Nord Stream and his pledge to “stop it.” Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who won a 1970 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, but whose later journalism has been strongly questioned, reported in February that the United States sabotaged the pipeline with help from Norway.
The U.S. and Norway have denied Hersh’s <a href="https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream">report</a>, which has not been corroborated. “This is false and complete fiction,” White House spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told Hersh.

Nord Stream 2

Denmark Invites Nord Stream’s Russian Operator To Salvage Unidentified Object Near Pipeline

Denmark

Germany

United States

World

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, who alleged last month that undercover U.S. Navy divers planted remotely triggered explosives on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, burst into laughter after hearing the New York Times claim that a &#8220;pro-Ukranian group&#8221; carried out the attack.
&#8220;What? That can&#8217;t be true,&#8221; Hersh said, according to a Disclose.tv <a href="https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1633510436095107087">tweet</a>. &#8220;They can&#8217;t be that stupid. Are they that stupid?&#8221;
According to the Times, U.S. intelligence officials suggested an unnamed &#8220;pro-Ukranian group&#8221; carried out last September&#8217;s attack on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea, which linked natural gas from Russia to Western Europe. Sweden and Denmark reported severe damage to the pipelines in September as natural gas spewed toward the surface.
Officials said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or the national government were not involved in the attack and declined to disclose additional information surrounding the new intelligence obtained. The anonymous officials cited by the Times offered no specifics on the shadowy group they said blew up the pipeline but insisted the attack did not involve the U.S. or United Kingdom.
&#8220;Oh my God — &#8216;Intelligence suggests Ukranian &#8230;,'&#8221; Hersh said before dissolving into laughter. &#8220;Oh, my God. Oh my God.&#8221;
Hersh published an extensive report on Substack alleging undercover U.S. Navy divers planted explosives on the pipeline during training exercises last summer.
Based on an unnamed source&#8217;s testimony, the report claimed that President Joe Biden viewed the pipelines as an avenue through which Russian President Vladimir Putin could weaponize his country&#8217;s natural gas supply for his territorial ambitions.
White House spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the notion that the United States destroyed the pipelines was “false and complete fiction,” while CIA spokesperson Tammy Thorp said the claim was “completely and utterly false” when asked for comment by Hersh.
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Some European officials said Russia may have destroyed its own pipelines; others <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tucker-carlson-fuels-suspicion-u-s-behind-nord-stream-sabotage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blamed</a> the United States.
The twin Nord Stream pipelines have been at the center of geopolitical strife since the Russia-Ukraine war began more than a year ago. Months into the conflict, Russia nixed shipments through Nord Stream 1 as a retaliatory measure against Western Europe, while Germany blocked the adjacent Nord Stream 2 from initiating shipments days before the war started.
Just before the war began, President Joe Biden warned &#8220;there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2&#8221; if Russia crossed the Ukrainian border and insisted to a journalist that &#8220;we will be able&#8221; to bring an &#8220;end&#8221; to the system.
The commander-in-chief initially waived sanctions against the Russian-owned company behind Nord Stream 2, although he reimposed sanctions shortly before the invasion started.
After Nord Stream 2 was destroyed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the phenomenon a &#8220;tremendous opportunity&#8221; to end European reliance on Russian energy supplies. Even though the pipelines were not pumping natural gas, protesters in Germany had been calling for the energy flow to resume as electricity prices increased more than twentyfold. Crippling the pipelines eliminated the possibility of Germany lifting sanctions in time to import natural gas for the winter.
Hersh, an investigative journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing the clandestine My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War, reportedly plans on publishing a new investigation about Nord Stream.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve written a couple of things about it,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to write something next week about it, and that&#8217;s the way I do it.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
UPDATE &#8211; U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh says, &quot;they can&#39;t be that stupid&quot; in reaction to NYT&#39;s article claiming a &quot;pro-Ukrainian group&quot; carried out the Nord Stream attacks. <a href="https://t.co/SB2RK9Xekk">pic.twitter.com/SB2RK9Xekk</a>
&mdash; Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) <a href="https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1633510436095107087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 8, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.

USA – Journalism – Seymour Hersh

‘They Can’t Be That Stupid’: Journalist Slams NYT For Claiming U.S. Officials Suggested Pro-Ukraine Group Attacked Nord Stream Pipelines

Investigative Journalist Slams New York Times For Claiming U.S. Officials Suggested Pro-Ukraine Group Attacked Nord Stream Pipelines

New York Times

U.S. Navy

Americans Killed By Drug Cartel
The governor of Tamaulipas in Matamoros, Mexico, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/two-americans-kidnapped-in-mexico-found-dead" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> that two out of four Americans kidnapped by gunmen last week were found dead. Two others from that group were found alive, though one was wounded. One of the victims reportedly had traveled into the country for a cosmetic medical procedure. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips joined the Morning Wire Afternoon Update to discuss:
<blockquote>&#8220;The area in which the victims were abducted is essentially controlled by the Gulf Cartel, and now lawmakers are calling the Biden administration to hold those responsible accountable. Republican Congresswoman Monica de la Cruz of Texas condemned the &#8216;horrifying&#8217; crime and declared &#8216;Justice must be swift and overwhelming. Enough is enough.'&#8221;</blockquote>
Tucker Carlson&#8217;s J6 Coverage
Fox News Host Tucker Carlson <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/history-has-changed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sparked a firestorm online</a> and outrage from legacy media outlets after airing never before seen footage from the January 6 Capitol Riot on Monday night. The footage aired by Carlson is some of more than 40,000 hours of surveillance video given exclusively to him by Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The Daily Wire’s Branon Drey joined the Afternoon update with more:
<blockquote>&#8220;The footage showed some of the protesters calmly walking throughout the building – with Capitol police likewise calmly standing by and at times even appearing to accompany the protesters through the halls. One of those protesters featured in the footage was the so-called &#8216;Qanon Shaman,&#8217; Jacob Chansley – who is seen in his famous horn hat – walking through the building accompanied by police, who take no steps to arrest him.&#8221;</blockquote>
Here&#8217;s Carlson&#8217;s full coverage thus far:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Virtually no one in Washington, Republican or Democrat, wanted to see this tape released tonight. <a href="https://t.co/YfpvaIZTbn">pic.twitter.com/YfpvaIZTbn</a>
&mdash; Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) <a href="https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1632953663822913536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Chansley has since been sentenced to 41 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding. We&#8217;ll have a full report on Wednesday’s Morning Wire.
Schumer Calls For Fox To Censor Carlson
In response to Carlson’s expose, Democratic Majority Senator Chuck Schumer is calling for Fox News to silence Carlson, claiming that he is endangering American safety and those hurt on January 6. Here is Schumer today from the Senate Floor:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
SCHUMER DEMANDS TUCKER BE CENSORED: &quot;Fox News, Rupert Murdoch: tell Carlson not to run a second segment of lies. You know it&#39;s a lie!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/nceCxdGLsh">pic.twitter.com/nceCxdGLsh</a>
&mdash; Breaking911 (@Breaking911) <a href="https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1633167139778510848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 7, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Fed Warns Interest Rates Will Rise
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Jerome Powell <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-reserve-chair-jerome-powell-tells-congress-more-rate-hikes-are-on-the-way" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> Tuesday that the Fed would continue to raise rates as new data showed inflation is still too high. He also urged Congress to raise the debt ceiling – but he did get some pushback from Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren:
https://twitter.com/officer_Lew/status/1633148878621999104?s=20
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Nord Stream Update
And, the New York Times <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-intelligence-suggests-unnamed-pro-ukrainian-group-carried-out-sabotage-on-nord-stream-pipelines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that U.S. officials believe that a pro-Ukrainian group blew up the Nord Stream pipeline last year. Those sources told the paper that they had no evidence linking President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine or the Ukrainian government to the attack. The information comes as other media outlets have reported that the U.S. was responsible for blowing up the pipeline to weaken Russia — an accusation that U.S. officials have repeatedly denied.
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 7: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) speaks during a news conference following a closed-door lunch meeting with Senate Democrats at the U.S. Capitol on March 7, 2023 in Washington, DC. Schumer said he will vote yes on a resolution to block a recent District of Columbia crime bill.

Tuesday Afternoon Update: Reaction To Tucker Carlson’s J6 Vids, Americans Killed By Drug Cartel, Nord Stream Explosion Update

Tuesday Afternoon Update: Reaction To Tucker Carlson's J6 Vids, Americans Killed By Drug Cartel, Nord Stream Explosion Update

Biden Administration

Federal Reserve

Mexico

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Tucker Carlson

U.S. intelligence officials suggest an unnamed &#8220;pro-Ukranian group&#8221; carried out last September&#8217;s attack on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea, which link natural gas from Russia to Western Europe. Sweden and Denmark reported severe damage to the pipelines in September as natural gas spewed toward the surface of the Baltic Sea.
According to a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/07/us/politics/nord-stream-pipeline-sabotage-ukraine.html?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York Times</a> report, officials said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or the national government were not involved in the attack and declined to disclose additional information surrounding the new intelligence obtained. The anonymous officials cited by the Times offered no specifics on the shadowy group they said blew up the pipeline, but insisted the attack did not involve the U.S. or United Kingdom.
Last month, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, in an extensive <a href="https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream">report</a> on Substack, alleged that U.S. Navy divers planted remotely triggered explosives on the pipeline under cover of training exercises over the summer. The White House and the CIA denied Hersh&#8217;s report.
<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11831303/U-S-says-Ukraine-group-Nord-Stream-pipe-bombing.html?ito=social-twitter_dailymailus" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Mail</a> reported National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby refused to comment on the Times piece in a briefing call to reporters on Tuesday, saying the investigations into the &#8220;sabotage&#8221; of the pipeline by Germany, Denmark, and Sweden are ongoing.
&#8220;There are three investigations going on right now,&#8221; Kirby said. &#8220;And they aren&#8217;t done,&#8221; adding the information from those reports has not been released to the public.
The twin Nord Stream pipelines have been at the center of geopolitical strife since before Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Months into the conflict, Russia nixed shipments through Nord Stream 1 as a retaliatory measure against Western Europe, while Germany blocked the adjacent Nord Stream 2 from initiating shipments days before the war started.
Just before the war began, President Joe Biden warned &#8220;there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2&#8221; if Russia crossed the Ukrainian border and insisted to a journalist that &#8220;we will be able&#8221; to bring an &#8220;end&#8221; to the system.
The commander-in-chief initially waived sanctions against the Russian-owned company behind Nord Stream 2, although he reimposed sanctions shortly before the invasion started.
After the Nord Stream 2 was destroyed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the phenomenon a &#8220;tremendous opportunity&#8221; to end European reliance on Russian energy supplies. Even though the pipelines were not pumping natural gas, protesters in Germany had been calling for the energy flow to resume as electricity prices increased more than twentyfold. Crippling the pipelines eliminated the possibility of Germany lifting sanctions in time to import natural gas for the winter.
 Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.

Denmark reports leak in Russian Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipeline

U.S. Intelligence Suggests Unnamed ‘Pro-Ukrainian Group’ Carried Out Sabotage On Nord Stream Pipelines

U.S. Intelligence Claims Unnamed 'Pro-Ukrainian Group' Carried Out Nord Stream Pipelines Attack

Government spokespeople said on Wednesday that a bombshell report claiming that the United States <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/u-s-navy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Navy</a> destroyed the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nord-stream-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nord Stream</a> pipeline system is “utterly false.”
The pipelines, which carried <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/oil-and-gas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">natural gas</a> under the Baltic Sea from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ukraine-russia-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russia</a> to Germany, had been the center of geopolitical strife before and after the invasion of Ukraine. Russia nixed shipments through Nord Stream 1 months into the conflict as a retaliatory measure against Western Europe, while Germany blocked the adjacent Nord Stream 2 from initiating shipments days before the war started. Sweden and Denmark <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nord-stream-pipelines-see-unprecedented-damage-after-cia-warned-german-government-of-sabotage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> severe damage to the pipelines in September as natural gas spewed toward the surface of the Baltic Sea.
Seymour Hersh, an investigative journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for exposing the clandestine My Lai Massacre during the Vietnam War, said in an <a href="https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/how-america-took-out-the-nord-stream?r=5mz1&amp;utm_campaign=post&amp;utm_medium=web" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> published on Wednesday that Navy divers planted remotely triggered explosives on the Nord Stream pipelines during widely publicized training <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-navy-nato-recently-tested-underwater-technology-near-location-nord-stream-pipelines-were-damaged" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exercises</a> over the summer. The report, which was based on the testimony of an unnamed source, claimed that President Joe Biden viewed the pipelines as an avenue through which Russian President Vladimir Putin could weaponize his country’s natural gas supply for his territorial ambitions.
Biden <a href="https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/1574685985115607040?s=20&amp;t=exDoFSWQyGXDG_Cpl8TgOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> last year that “there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2” if Russia crossed the Ukrainian border and insisted to a journalist that “we will be able” to bring an “end” to the system. The commander-in-chief initially <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-sanctions-russian-owned-company-behind-nord-stream-2-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">waived</a> sanctions against the Russian-owned company behind Nord Stream 2, although he reimposed sanctions shortly before the invasion started.
White House spokesperson Adrienne Watson said the notion that the United States destroyed the pipelines was “false and complete fiction,” while CIA spokesperson Tammy Thorp said the claim was “completely and utterly false” when asked for comment by Hersh. Some European officials said Russia may have destroyed its own pipelines; others <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tucker-carlson-fuels-suspicion-u-s-behind-nord-stream-sabotage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blamed</a> the United States.
Top national security officials and military brass had reportedly agreed that the United States should destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, but debated for months over the best method for accomplishing the objective, according to Hersh. Biden administration leadership eventually turned to Navy divers who had been trained at a school in Florida to use explosives while executing assignments such as clearing debris-filled harbors and destroying foreign oil rigs.
While officials in the Navy suggested assaulting the pipeline with a submarine and officials in the Air Force suggested dropping bombs with delayed remote control fuses, CIA officials emphasized that the action would have to be utterly covert. “This is not kiddie stuff,” the source told Hersh, noting that the attack would constitute “an act of war” if traced to the United States.
After the Nord Stream pipelines were destroyed last year, Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-canadian-foreign-minister-melanie-joly-at-a-joint-press-availability/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the phenomenon a “tremendous opportunity” to end European reliance on Russian energy supplies. Even though the pipelines were not pumping natural gas, protesters in Germany had been calling for the energy flow to resume as electricity prices <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-climate-bureaucrats-are-dooming-the-continent-to-a-very-dark-winter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> more than twentyfold. Crippling the pipelines eliminated the possibility of Germany lifting sanctions in time to import natural gas for the winter.

SWEDEN-US-NATO-DEFENCE-BALTOPS-TRAINING

Government Denies Bombshell Report Claiming United States Blew Up Nord Stream Pipelines

United States Destroyed Nord Stream Pipelines, Bombshell Report Claims

Europe

Oil and Gas

Russia is preparing to make expensive repairs to a pair of natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea that many Western experts suspected Moscow had ordered sabotaged to begin with.
Moscow&#8217;s latest moves complicate already uncertain theories about who could be responsible for bombing the Nord Stream pipelines in September and why. Swedish investigators looking into the incident have concluded that a state actor is most likely responsible, though they cannot say for sure who, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/26/world/europe/nordstream-pipeline-explosion-russia.html">The New York Times</a>.
On September 26, three explosions sprung four leaks in Nord Stream 1 and 2. The bombings took place at two locations inside the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark in the Baltic Sea.
After the explosions, many Western leaders and experts blamed the leaks on Russian aggression. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63084613">said</a> on September 30 that Russia “seems” to be the culprit. Experts hypothesized that Moscow was sending a threatening message against the West’s underwater infrastructure, as well as cutting off a main artery for Europe’s access to Russian gas fields ahead of winter.
Russia has repeatedly denied the accusations. Investigators have failed to come up with evidence to support the charge against Russia. Some European officials have backed off earlier condemnations of Russia and expressed regret that so many fingers were pointed at Moscow before proper evidence was gathered to support the charge.
“The governments that waited to comment before drawing conclusions played this right,” one European official told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/12/21/russia-nord-stream-explosions/">The Washington Post</a>.
The most likely suspect is either a state or state-backed terror group, according to the Post.
“We know that this amount of explosives has to be a state-level actor,” Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told the Post. “It’s not just a single fisherman who decides to put the bomb there. It’s very professional.”
The Nord Stream pipelines do not service Finland. Still, the event is a warning. “The lesson learned is that it shows how vulnerable our energy network, our undersea cables, internet … are for all kinds of terrorists,” Haavisto said.
Daniel Stenling, Sweden’s top counterintelligence official, declined to posit a culprit to the Times. He said that the attack was “very interesting” following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“In the big context of the war in Ukraine that is ongoing, it’s very interesting and very serious,” he told the Times while emphasizing the growing threats from Russia on cybersecurity and espionage.

Nord Stream pipelines

Nord Stream Whodunit Gets Complicated As Russia Takes Steps To Repair Sabotaged Pipelines

Energy

The <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/russia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russian</a> government claimed without evidence on Saturday that the British Military blew up the country&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nord-stream-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nord Stream</a> gas pipelines last month, a claim that was met with immediate pushback from London.
&#8220;According to available information, representatives of this unit of the British Navy took part in the planning, provision and implementation of a terrorist attack in the Baltic Sea on September 26 this year &#8211; blowing up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines,&#8221; Russia claimed without providing any evidence.
The British government responded by calling the allegations false and saying that Russia was trying to distract from their failures in Ukraine.
&#8220;To detract from their disastrous handling of the illegal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defence is resorting to peddling false claims of an epic scale,&#8221; the British defense ministry said. &#8220;This invented story, says more about arguments going on inside the Russian government than it does about the West.&#8221;
Russia also accused the British Military of assisting Ukrainian forces conducting a drone attack on the Russian Black Sea fleet in Sevastopol, the biggest city in Russian-annexed Crimea, Saturday morning.
&#8220;The preparation of this terrorist act and the training of servicemen of the Ukrainian 73rd Special Center for Naval Operations were carried out under the guidance of British specialists located in the town of Ochakiv,&#8221; the Russian government claimed. “As a result of the operational measures taken by the ships of the Black Sea Fleet, all the air drones were destroyed, though minor damage was done to the minesweeper Ivan Golubets.&#8221;
Video online showed the drones traveling through the water looking for Russian ships to attack.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Unbelievable footage from one of the marine drones used in the attack on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol. 
(Via Ukrainian journalist Andriy Tsaplienko)
Full story: <a href="https://t.co/YdtcFELiSy">https://t.co/YdtcFELiSy</a> <a href="https://t.co/Nw5YbHeQMU">pic.twitter.com/Nw5YbHeQMU</a>
&mdash; James Waterhouse (@JamWaterhouse) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamWaterhouse/status/1586358395933970433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The small unmanned surface vessel found on shore near Sevastopol appears to be a US-supplied explosive drone boat. This might be one of the &quot;unmanned coastal defense vessels” listed by the Pentagon in April as being supplied to Ukraine. Still wondering what is the mother ship? <a href="https://t.co/YaluF2f5Gx">https://t.co/YaluF2f5Gx</a> <a href="https://t.co/dQGNBAb78a">pic.twitter.com/dQGNBAb78a</a>
&mdash; Chris Cavas (@CavasShips) <a href="https://twitter.com/CavasShips/status/1573166144537694209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 23, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
https://twitter.com/TpyxaNews/status/1586350597627781120
Russia responded to the drone attack by announcing that they were withdrawing from a U.N.-brokered agreement that &#8220;has seen more than 9 million tons of grain exported from Ukraine during the war and has brought down soaring global food prices.&#8221;
&#8220;In connection with the actions of Ukrainian armed forces, led by British specialists, directed, among other things, against Russian ships that ensure the functioning of the humanitarian corridor in question (which cannot be qualified otherwise than as a terrorist attack), the Russian side cannot guarantee the safety of civilian dry cargo ships participating in the Black Sea initiative, and suspends its implementation from today for an indefinite period,&#8221; the Russians said.
President Joe Biden (D) fumed at the development, calling it &#8220;purely outrageous.&#8221;
&#8220;There&#8217;s no merit to what they&#8217;re doing,&#8221; Biden told reporters in Delaware. &#8220;The U.N. negotiated that deal and that should be the end of it.&#8221;

Sweden reports 4th leak on Nord Stream pipelines

Russia Faces Pushback After Identifying Country It Claims Sabotaged Nord Stream Pipelines; Cuts Grain Exports

Conflicts

U.K.

Authorities in <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/denmark" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Denmark</a> revealed on Tuesday that “powerful explosions” caused damage last month to the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nord-stream-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nord Stream</a> pipeline system.
The pipelines, which carried <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/oil-and-gas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">natural gas</a> under the Baltic Sea from <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/russia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russia</a> to <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a>, have been the center of geopolitical strife since the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ukraine-russia-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invasion of Ukraine</a>. Russia nixed shipments through Nord Stream 1 several weeks ago, while Germany blocked the adjacent Nord Stream 2 from beginning shipments days before the war started. Sweden and Denmark <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nord-stream-pipelines-see-unprecedented-damage-after-cia-warned-german-government-of-sabotage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> damage to the pipelines on September 26 as the system operator confirmed that the destruction was “unprecedented.”
The Danish Police Intelligence Service released a <a href="https://politi.dk/koebenhavns-politi/nyhedsliste/pet-og-k%C3%B8benhavns-politi-neds%C3%A6tter-f%C3%A6lles-efterforskningsgruppe-i-sagen-om-gasl%C3%A6kager-i-%C3%B8sters%C3%B8en/2022/10/18" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> announcing that preliminary investigations of the “crime scenes” confirm “extensive damage” to the pipelines caused by “powerful explosions.”
Denmark suggested that cooperation with the United Nations’ International Court of Justice, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, could be on the table as other countries carry out their own investigations. Swedish authorities said that evidence “has strengthened the suspicions of gross sabotage,” while the “continued preliminary investigation must show whether someone can be served with suspicion and later prosecuted.”
Footage shot by a Norwegian robotics company and <a href="https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/forsta-bilderna-fran-sprangda-gasroret-pa-ostersjons-botten/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> this week by the Swedish newspaper Expressen showed a massive tear in Nord Stream 1, with parts of the pipeline lodged in the seabed and over 50 meters of the system missing.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_451870" style="width: 992px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451870" class="wp-image-451870 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616290-982x576.jpg" alt="" width="982" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616290-982x576.jpg 982w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616290-300x176.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616290-768x451.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616290-1536x901.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616290.jpg 2032w" sizes=" (max-width: 982px) 100vw, 982px" />Gas leak causes bubbles on the surface of the water at Sea in Sweden on September 30 (Swedish Coast Guard Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)</div>
Meanwhile, the European Commission announced <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_6238" target="_blank" rel="noopener">details</a> of a proposal meant to increase security for infrastructure in the European Union. Ministers are encouraged to conduct stress tests on entities operating critical infrastructure while authorities in Brussels assume a “stronger support and coordination role” among member states and allies.
While some European ministers said Russia may have destroyed its own pipelines to increase gas prices, others <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tucker-carlson-fuels-suspicion-u-s-behind-nord-stream-sabotage" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blamed</a> the United States for the damage, which caused natural gas to spew toward the surface of the Baltic Sea. Disabling the pipelines would remove the possibility of Germany caving to Russia and ending sanctions in time to import energy for the winter.
Footage of President Joe Biden threatening to oppose the Nord Stream 2 pipeline days before the beginning of the war <a href="https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/1574685985115607040?s=20&amp;t=exDoFSWQyGXDG_Cpl8TgOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">resurfaced</a> on social media after the pipelines suffered damage. The commander-in-chief had initially <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-sanctions-russian-owned-company-behind-nord-stream-2-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">waived</a> sanctions against the Russian-owned company behind Nord Stream 2, although he reimposed sanctions shortly before the conflict began.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_451871" style="width: 992px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-451871" class="wp-image-451871 size-large" src="https://www.dailywire.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616157-982x576.jpg" alt="" width="982" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616157-982x576.jpg 982w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616157-300x176.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616157-768x451.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616157-1536x901.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/10/GettyImages-1243616157.jpg 2032w" sizes=" (max-width: 982px) 100vw, 982px" />A fourth leak was reported on September 30 in the Nord Stream gas pipelines off the coast of Sweden (Swedish Coast Guard Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)</div>
“If Russia invades, that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, there will no longer be a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it,” Biden said earlier this year. After a reporter pressed him, Biden responded: “I promise you, we will be able to do it.”
The destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline system threatens to worsen the energy supply crisis facing much of Europe. Natural gas shipments from Russia, which had already paused exports through Nord Stream 1 before the pipeline suffered damage, accounted for 40% of the European natural gas supply last year, a rate that had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-union-social-market-economy-might-redistribute-fossil-fuel-profits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped</a> to 9% as of last month. Germany, the continent’s largest economy, has seen dependence on Russian natural gas decrease from 55% to 35%.
The European Union is currently weighing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-union-questions-russian-oil-price-cap-considers-making-fossil-fuel-companies-pay-a-solidarity-contribution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">various measures</a>, such as consumption limits, to help member states triage their power supplies through the winter. Several nations, including France and Spain, have already called for residents to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/french-president-calls-for-10-cut-in-energy-use-will-ration-power-as-a-last-resort" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reduce</a> power consumption.

Danish Police Reveal Cause Of Nord Stream Pipeline Damage

Preliminary Investigation Shows Nord Stream Pipeline Destroyed By 'Powerful Explosions'

Sweden

The Nord Stream pipeline system is the center of Europe’s geopolitical tensions as Russia invades Ukraine — at least until a few days ago.
Europeans, already battling to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-climate-bureaucrats-are-dooming-the-continent-to-a-very-dark-winter">secure enough power</a> for the winter thanks to its rapid transition toward green energy, were met on September 26 with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nord-stream-pipelines-see-unprecedented-damage-after-cia-warned-german-government-of-sabotage">unprecedented damage</a> to the pipelines, which run natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Officials in Sweden reported two leaks in Nord Stream 1 shortly after a leak on the nearby Nord Stream 2 was found, while Nord Stream AG, the energy company that runs the pipeline system, remains unable to “estimate the timing of the restoration of the gas transport infrastructure.”
Ministers across Europe quickly began pointing fingers as natural gas spewed into the Baltic Sea. Given the conflict that has characterized the pipeline system, through which Russia had stopped sending natural gas a few weeks earlier, one would have to be off their rockers to not call foul. The German government, for example, has already ruled out seismic activity as a cause for the disaster and presumes the system was intentionally destroyed.
Russia, for its part, denies any involvement. When asked about the possibility of sabotage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “no option can be ruled out” at the moment. However, as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace noted in a recent <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/politika/88062">report</a>, Russia could benefit from the end of Nord Stream 1 by claiming a “force majeure” for breaching contracts to avoid delivering natural gas to Europe. 
Gazprom, the Russian energy conglomerate which owns a majority stake in Nord Stream AG, could also benefit from insurance claims. Others speculate that Russia destroyed its own pipelines to increase gas prices or even frame the United States.
While plenty of European leaders have blamed Russia, some have indeed noted the United States had the most to gain from the suddenly disabled pipelines. President Joe Biden <a href="https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/1574685985115607040?s=20&amp;t=exDoFSWQyGXDG_Cpl8TgOQ">said</a> days before the invasion that he would “bring an end” to Nord Stream 2 if Russian troops entered Ukraine. After the pipelines were destroyed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-canadian-foreign-minister-melanie-joly-at-a-joint-press-availability/">called</a> the phenomenon a “tremendous opportunity” to end European reliance on Russian energy. 
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/economist-makes-waves-after-arguing-the-biden-admin-destroyed-the-nord-stream-pipeline">noted</a> by economist Jeffrey Sachs, the rhetoric from the White House is a “strange way to talk” if they were truly “worried about piracy on international infrastructure of vital significance.”
When asked to justify his assertion, Sachs claimed radar data indicated that American military helicopters typically based in Poland had been circling over the area of the destruction. Some have noted the United States and other NATO members had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-navy-nato-recently-tested-underwater-technology-near-location-nord-stream-pipelines-were-damaged">tested</a> underwater technology months before the pipelines were destroyed.
 Meanwhile, one report <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nord-stream-pipelines-see-unprecedented-damage-after-cia-warned-german-government-of-sabotage">revealed</a> that the CIA had cautioned Germany about possible attacks on the pipelines weeks earlier.
Even though the pipelines were not pumping gas due to Western sanctions, protesters in Germany had been calling for the energy flow to resume as electricity prices increased <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-climate-bureaucrats-are-dooming-the-continent-to-a-very-dark-winter">more than twentyfold</a>. Crippling the pipelines would likely eliminate the possibility of Germany lifting the sanctions in time to import energy for the winter — a compromise that would compel Ukraine to lose support from the largest economy in Europe.
Other Americans <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tucker-carlson-fuels-suspicion-u-s-behind-nord-stream-sabotage">suspicious</a> of their own government’s motives included Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who warned of possible retaliation from the Russian government. “If we actually blew up the Nord Stream pipelines, why wouldn’t Russia sever undersea internet cables?” Carlson wondered, noting that such a move would overthrow the worldwide banking system. “Have the people behind this… considered the effects? Maybe they have. Maybe that was the point.”

3D render of the construction of the gas pipe Nord Stream 2. The concept of sanctions and economic war, an anvil falling on a gas pipe. 3D rendering

Did The United States Sabotage The Nord Stream Pipelines?

Readers Pass

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/columbia-university" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Columbia University</a> economist Jeffrey Sachs made waves on Monday after arguing that the United States was responsible for destroying part of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/nord-stream-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nord Stream</a> pipeline system in <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/europe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Europe</a>.
The pipelines, which carry <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/oil-and-gas" target="_blank" rel="noopener">natural gas</a> under the Baltic Sea from <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/russia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Russia</a> to <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/germany" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Germany</a>, have been the center of geopolitical strife since the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ukraine-russia-war" target="_blank" rel="noopener">invasion of Ukraine</a>. Russia nixed shipments through Nord Stream 1 several weeks ago, while Germany blocked the adjacent Nord Stream 2 from beginning shipments days before. Sweden and Denmark <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nord-stream-pipelines-see-unprecedented-damage-after-cia-warned-german-government-of-sabotage">reported</a> damage to the pipelines last week as the system operator confirmed that the destruction was “unprecedented.”
During an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESG14_DsUIA">appearance</a> on Bloomberg TV, Sachs — who directs Columbia University’s Center for Sustainable Development — agreed with some Europeans who have suggested that the United States had the strongest motive to carry out the alleged attack.
&#8220;The European economy is getting hammered by the sudden cutoff of energy,” Sachs contended. “And now to make it definitive, the destruction of the Nord Stream Pipeline — which I would bet was a U.S. action, perhaps U.S. and Poland.”
When asked to justify his assertion, Sachs claimed that radar data indicated that American military helicopters typically based in Gdansk, Poland, had been circling over the area. He also noted that President Joe Biden <a href="https://twitter.com/Partisangirl/status/1574685985115607040?s=20&amp;t=exDoFSWQyGXDG_Cpl8TgOQ">said</a> days before the invasion that he would “bring an end” to Nord Stream 2 if Russian troops entered Ukraine. After the pipelines were destroyed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-canadian-foreign-minister-melanie-joly-at-a-joint-press-availability/">called</a> the phenomenon a “tremendous opportunity” to end European reliance on Russian energy.
“That&#8217;s a strange way to talk if you&#8217;re worried about piracy on international infrastructure of vital significance,” Sachs said. “I know it runs counter to our narrative — you&#8217;re not allowed to say these things in the West — but the fact of the matter is all over the world when I talk to people, they think the U.S. did it. Even reporters on our papers that are involved tell me ‘Of course,’ but it doesn&#8217;t show up in our media.”
While some European ministers said Russia may have destroyed its own pipelines to increase gas prices, others <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tucker-carlson-fuels-suspicion-u-s-behind-nord-stream-sabotage">blamed</a> the United States for the damage, which caused natural gas to spew toward the surface of the Baltic Sea. Disabling the pipelines would remove the possibility of Germany caving to Russia and ending sanctions in time to import energy for the winter.
The German government assumes the destruction emerged from an intentional attack rather than seismic activity. Some have noted that the United States and other NATO members had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-navy-nato-recently-tested-underwater-technology-near-location-nord-stream-pipelines-were-damaged">tested underwater technology</a> months before the pipelines were destroyed. Meanwhile, a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/cia-warned-berlin-about-possible-attacks-gas-pipelines-summer-spiegel-2022-09-27/">report</a> from German news outlet Spiegel pointed out that the CIA had cautioned Germany about possible attacks on the pipelines weeks earlier.
Ministers in the European Union are contending with energy prices that have increased <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-climate-bureaucrats-are-dooming-the-continent-to-a-very-dark-winter">as much as twentyfold</a> in some member states. In accordance with the European Green Deal and the Paris Climate Agreement, nations in the bloc abide by the <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/climate-strategies-targets/2050-long-term-strategy_en">official goal</a> of becoming “a climate-neutral society” by 2050. As power prices continue to rise, manufacturers across Europe have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/european-companies-pause-production-as-energy-prices-soar">paused operations</a> through the winter, while some nations are considering implementing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/french-president-unveils-massive-green-power-development-proposal-as-energy-crisis-continues">energy quotas</a> and other regulations for power consumption.

Columbia University Professor Jeffrey Sachs Interview

Economist Makes Waves After Arguing The Biden Admin Destroyed The Nord Stream Pipeline

Columbia Economist Argues The United States Destroyed Nord Stream Pipeline

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