A 49-year-old Ukrainian man was arrested in Italy after authorities linked him to the Nord Stream pipeline attack. Authorities believe the man and his accomplices rented a sailing yacht from a German company in September 2022 and managed to detonate a portion of the pipeline. No one has ever taken responsibility for the attack. Sweden closed its investigation in February 2024 after determining “insufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case,” and Danish prosecutors also ended their investigations that same month, although they acknowledged there was “deliberate sabotage of the gas pipelines.” Germany is the last remaining European nation continuing the investigation.
The world initially blamed Russia for the attack, believing Moscow would actively detonate its own pipeline to prevent its top buyer from accessing oil. The motive never added up. Gerhard Schindler, former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), suggested that Russia sabotaged the pipeline to halt gas exports. President Zelensky’s advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that Russia wanted “to destabilize economic situation in Europe and cause pre-winter panic.”
Russia accused Western actors of destroying the pipeline. “It is evident that executing such a terrorist act required a directive from the highest levels…for the West, that highest level is undoubtedly Washington,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated. Russia’s defense ministry accused the British navy of orchestrating the attack with the support of its US ally.
Putin called the idea of a pro-Ukrainian group orchestrating the attach “nonsense.” “An explosion of this kind, with such power, at such depth, can only be carried out by specialists, and supported by the entire power of the state, which has certain technologies. … The fact that this is a terrorist attack is no longer a secret to anyone, I think everyone has already recognized it. Moreover, the terrorist attack, quite obviously, was committed at the state level, because no amateurs can commit such actions,” Putin stated.
Former President Biden plainly stated that the US “would bring an end” to the Nord Stream pipeline if Russia invaded Ukraine.
The pipeline was Putin’s last and strongest bargaining chip with Europe. In fact, he agreed to lift sanctions ahead of the explosion. The sabotage of the Nord Stream Pipelines was most likely accomplished with US intelligence. There is no possibility that Russia would have destroyed its final lifeline to the European economy. There is a possibility, however, that Europe would have caved and continued purchasing Russian energy. Neocons like National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Victoria Nuland, the Undersecretary of State for Policy, and Secretary of State Tony Blinken openly stated that they did not approve of the pipelines and wanted them gone. The Biden Administration was also keen to carry out the net-zero program and eliminate the world’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Germany consumed just under 20% of all Russian gas exports in 2020. About 50% of all of its gas was coming from Russia. Germany was clearly Russia’s #1 customer. That was why the United States may have taken the initiative to simply blow up the Nord Stream Pipeline without consulting Germany.
“If Russia invades, that means tanks and troops crossing the border of Ukraine again, then there will be, there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2,” Biden stated in February 2022 during a joint press conference with former German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “I promise you, we will be able to do it.” Radek Sikorski, Poland’s former minister of national defense and EU Parliament member, posted an image on Twitter of the leak with the caption, “Thank you, USA.”
The destruction of Nord Stream came 51.6 years on target with the frequency of the Economic Confidence Model. Could a group of men create an explosion so powerful that it registered as a 2.3 magnitude earthquake? Evidently, this Ukrainian man was selected as the unfortunate scapegoat. It is overtly apparent who had the motive and incentive to eliminate Russia’s top export and bargaining chip.
