MOSCOW, October 4 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. The story of the explosion of the Nord Stream is gaining momentum. The Kremlin accuses the United States of sabotage, in Europe they point to Moscow. Military analysts put forward their own versions — due to the peculiarities of the sea relief, the circle of suspects is narrowing. Who may be behind this terrorist attack — in the material of RIA Novosti.
One submarine
The American newspaper The Times claims that Moscow tried to destabilize Europe during the energy crisis. However, the journalists did not explain why they would blow up their own pipe if it was enough to block the valve.
Analysts also point to this. For example, former Swiss intelligence officer Jacques Bo explained in an interview with Radio Courtoisie that without gas, the Kremlin "disappears any opportunity" to put pressure on Germany. In addition, we are talking about multibillion-dollar losses, because the "Streams" were mainly built by Russia.
According to experts, the version about the "Russian submarine", which allegedly fired torpedoes through pipes, is also untenable. The explosion occurred near the island of Bornholm in Danish territorial waters. NATO underwater listening stations are deployed there. Similar equipment is located in other parts of the Baltic Sea. The military of NATO countries listen to the water area around the clock and know perfectly well what is happening in it.
NATO ships during the BALTOPS joint exercise in the Baltic Sea Image Source: © Photo : German Navy
A Russian submarine, a bathyscaphe or a drone would not be able to get into the gas pipeline zone unnoticed. In addition, the sea in this area is not very deep, about 80 meters — the underwater vehicle is easy to see with the naked eye from an anti-submarine aircraft.
Finally, there is only one submarine in service with the Baltic Fleet: the Dmitrov submarine of Project 877 Halibut. These submarines are not designed for such sabotage.
The Russian Navy has only three bases in the Baltic — in Kaliningrad, Baltiysk and Kronstadt. They are constantly monitored by American Poseidons, which can fly from Poland (the ports of Gdynia and Svinousce), Germany (the bases of Warnemunde, Kiel and Ekkernferde), Denmark (the bases of Frederikshavn and Korser), as well as from the airfields of new NATO members — Finland and Sweden.
Who benefits
The Russian authorities point to the "American trail". First of all, as noted in the Foreign Ministry, Washington has economic motives.
This, in particular, is indicated by the statement of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who called the refusal of European countries from Russian gas a "huge strategic opportunity" for the United States.
A section of the Nord Stream main gas pipeline in the German city of Lubmin Image source: © RIA Novosti / Grigory Sysoev
"Back in the 1970s, a strategy was formulated overseas: to prevent the economic rapprochement of the USSR with Germany," says Sergey Sudakov, an American political scientist. — Apparently, this approach is still being followed today. The symbiosis of German technologies and Russian resources is Washington's nightmare. Suddenly it turned out that Germany, without cheap energy carriers, no longer pulls the role of the main locomotive of the European Union. By weakening Berlin, Washington is eliminating an economic competitor."
According to Sudakov, we are talking about an attempt to get EU countries hooked on liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced in the United States. It is much more expensive than the Russian one, but Europeans simply have no other choice.
"The Americans and their closest allies, the British, have the technical capabilities to commit such a diversion," the expert believes. — The US Sixth Fleet has been hanging out in the Baltic all summer. There, in particular, exercises were conducted to mine objects on the bottom. But if something needs to be cleared, then it should be mined first. And there are definitely no problems with this."
NATO is armed with automatic underwater robots capable of laying explosives. In addition, the depth at which the pipes are located allows even combat swimmers to do this.
Rich experience
There have already been precedents. So, in the summer of 1982, an explosion occurred on the Urengoy - Surgut — Chelyabinsk gas pipeline. The infrastructure, which was supposed to give the USSR up to eight billion dollars a year, was seriously damaged. According to Thomas Reed, the former director of the National Directorate of Military Space Intelligence of the United States, the CIA staged the sabotage. The special service "infected" the computers responsible for the operation of the pipeline.
A year later, the United States tried to undermine Nicaragua's economy by sending a group of combat swimmers there. They first destroyed the oil storage facilities that fed the whole country in the port of Corinto. Then — the most important pipeline to Puerto Sandino. And after that, the agents of the special services mined the territorial waters in order not to let the tankers.
In 1984, when this story leaked to the press, Managua appealed to the International Court of Justice of the United Nations. The arbitration recognized Washington's guilt and ordered to pay damages. However, the United States blocked the relevant resolution. For this diversion, like many others, no one has answered.
