Nord Stream mystery: who blew up the pipelines?

Six months ago a series of underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany – but intelligence agencies are yet to pinpoint a culprit.

“The bombings severed three of the Nord Stream projects’ four underwater pipelines”, built to transport a direct supply of natural gas from Russia to customers in Western Europe, said Intelligencer, although they were not in operation “thanks to tensions over the war in Ukraine”.

At the time, “multiple European governments quickly pointed to sabotage – pinning the blame either implicitly or explicitly on Russia”, said Morning Brew. But Moscow, too, said it was unable to rule out sabotage.

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Germany, Denmark and Sweden have initiated investigations into the explosions, but have so far maintained a “hermetic silence” about them, said El Pais International. While they say any conclusions will be made public, “in the absence of concrete information, conspiracy theories abound”. But more recent reporting suggests investigators could be closing in on who carried out the explosions.

What did the papers say?

The pipeline blasts have been the subject of a host of media reports since they occurred on 26 September. Last week, The New York Times claimed US officials had seen intelligence suggesting “a pro-Ukrainian group” was involved. However, it emphasised there was no evidence that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or any Ukrainian military chiefs or government officials sanctioned the attacks. Ukraine has denied any involvement.

Officials who reviewed the intelligence told the paper they believed the saboteurs were likely “opponents” of Russian president Vladimir Putin and were “most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two”. However, the new intelligence did not specify the members of the group nor who directed or paid for the operation.

Insiders said the explosives were “most likely planted with the help of experienced divers who did not appear to be working for military or intelligence services”, but said it was “possible that the perpetrators received specialised government training in the past”.

US officials are reportedly “divided” over how much credence to give the new information, but it has “increased their optimism” that US and European spy agencies will be able to uncover more information that may allow them to reach firmer conclusions.

One of Putin’s “top allies” – Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev – has “cast doubt” on the reports, however, questioning if a pro-Ukrainian group was capable of carrying out such an attack, said Reuters.

Writing for the Russian newspaper Argumenti i Fakti, Patrushev accused “pro-government Anglo-Saxon media” of covering up the “true culprits” on “orders from above”. He suggested the reports were intended to divert attention away from possible American or British involvement in the attacks – something both the US and the UK has firmly denied. Patrushev complained that Russia did not know who was behind the blasts as it had not been invited to take part in the ongoing investigations.

Kremlin officials accused the New York Times report of being a “deliberate act of misinformation by Washington”, said The Times. An article by the veteran American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh – who revealed the My Lai massacre among other major stories – suggested the pipelines were blown up by elite US Navy divers on the orders of President Biden. The White House rejected his report as “complete fiction”, but the theory was jumped upon by Russian officials and state media.

German newspaper Die Zeit reported earlier this week that German authorities believe a team of six people – five men and one woman – may have carried out the sabotage using forged passports and a yacht hired by a Polish company owned by two Ukrainian citizens.

Der Spiegel identified the sailing boat allegedly used in the attack as the 15-metre chartered yacht Andromeda, which according to reports docked at the German island of Rügen before travelling on to the Danish island Christiansø, very close to the site. But German investigators have yet to identify the nationality of the perpetrators or attribute responsibility to any government.

Diving experts have questioned the theory, said The Guardian. An extended deep dive would have “required a decompression chamber for the divers, which would not fit on a yacht”, according to experts who spoke to the paper, while there are “also questions” over “whether there would be room for the required explosives”.

What next?

German prosecutors have confirmed that they had searched a boat that may have been used in the attacks, but urged caution as they warned about the possibility of a “false-flag operation to blame Ukraine”.

No one has claimed responsibility and nor are they likely to, said El Pais. European and Nato sources say it is a “good example of hybrid warfare – an attack on physical infrastructure aimed at destabilization and causing chaos”, reported the paper, adding: “No one will ever claim responsibility for the attack because the mystery will continue to generate confusion and never-ending theories.”

Ongoing investigations are complicated by the site of the attack – some 230 feet (70 metres) underwater – while information is unlikely to be shared between even allied intelligence agencies while the war in Ukraine rages on. And “without solid evidence, it will be difficult to pinpoint a culprit”, said the paper.