Attacks on gas pipelines – American sabotage with Danish help against the Russians and Germans
by Ferenc VUKICS
Original article:
Támadások a gázvezetékek ellen – Amerikai szabotázs dán segédlettel az oroszok és a németek ellen? (Vukics Ferenc írása), Szilaj Csikó, 28.09.2022.
We have been following the gas pipeline dispute for a long time. Back in 2014, I concluded that Ukraine was so important to the US administration precisely because of the Russian pipelines that ran through its territory, although at the time I thought that they were only trying to pressure the Russians to give US energy majors preferential rights to sell Russian mineral and energy assets by acquiring transit companies and blocking deliveries.
As soon as I heard the news that the Russian Federal Security Service had prevented a terrorist attack on a gas pipeline to Europe and Turkey, the news four days earlier of the downing of a Russian helicopter in Turkey which was assisting local authorities in 'fire-fighting duties' became suspicious.
According to the Russian Federal Security Service, an SBU agent and four members of the Ukrainian special service were detained in connection with the incident and two high-powered explosive devices were seized, which were intended to commit sabotage and terrorist acts at an oil and gas facility supplying Turkey and Europe.
Two days ago, when German demonstrators were calling for the lifting of sanctions against Russia and the opening of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, I was suddenly reminded of the statement by NATO's first Secretary General, Lord Ismay, that the main purpose of the military alliance is 'to keep the Americans in, the Russians out and the Germans down'.
It seemed obvious that the physical dismantling of the remaining pipelines would be the final step in the separation of Europe and Russia.
And when the news came that some kind of explosions had caused significant damage to both pipelines of the Nord Stream, in the light of the Biden statement this winter and reading the Ukrainian reactions (it is standard procedure for them to always blame the other for what they did or played some part in), there was no question in my mind who had an interest in the dismantling of the pipelines.
European officials who spoke on the matter did not deny that the leaks caused by explosions in the Nord Stream gas pipelines were probably the result of sabotage. The Nord Stream pipelines connect Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. Russia recently halted gas supplies via Nord Stream 1 indefinitely and construction of Nord Stream 2 was completed, but the pipeline was never fully operational as Berlin suspended the project after Russia invaded Ukraine. Two leaks were discovered in Nord Stream 1 after the explosions and one in Nord Stream 2 after the operator reported a sudden drop in pressure overnight on Monday. Although neither pipeline is currently carrying gas to Europe, both contain gas under pressure. Earlier (on Monday), two underwater explosions were recorded near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, where the leaks occurred. Nord Stream AG, the operator of the pipelines, said it was not possible to estimate when the damage could be repaired.
Officials from the EU, Sweden, Norway and Denmark all said the damage was probably caused by a deliberate attack. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said sabotage could not be ruled out.
A "targeted attack" could have caused a leak in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, according to experts from the German federal government, Der Tagesspiegel reported on Tuesday. The Berlin-based newspaper, citing security sources on its news portal, said that the sudden drop in pressure on the two pipelines, which run in the Baltic Sea basin and are not in use, on Monday, shortly after each other, could not have been a coincidence.
Based on the circumstances – timing, pipelines involved, extent of pressure loss – only a "scenario" of a "targeted attack" seems conceivable, an unnamed expert investigating the incident on behalf of a federal authority told Der Tagesspiegel.
Carrying out a "targeted attack" against gas pipelines laid in a sea bed is a serious task, requiring specialised forces such as navy divers or submarines, the paper's sources explained, explaining that two possibilities seem likely as to the identity of the attackers.
It is possible that Ukraine, or a supporter of a country defending itself against a Russian attack, is responsible for the attack.
However, it is also possible that there was a so-called false flag operation, a "self-assassassination",
i.e. Russian units carried out the attack with the intention of increasing the uncertainty surrounding the EU's gas supply, further deepening the energy crisis and driving up again the market price of natural gas, which has fallen in recent days.
Former Polish Foreign Minister and current MEP Radek Sikorski suggested on Twitter that Washington was behind the attack. He posted a picture of the water turbulence caused by the leak on Twitter and wrote: "Thank you, USA". In another tweet, Sikorski, who is married to US journalist Anne Applebaum, described her view that the US was responsible for the attacks as "hypothetical". Nevertheless, he celebrated the sabotage, saying that "$20 billion of scrap metal lies at the bottom of the sea, another price Russia has paid for its criminal decision to invade Ukraine".
Germany's Der Spiegel reports that the US knew in advance of the possible attack on the pipelines.
Spiegel, citing unnamed sources, reported that the German government received a tip from the CIA in the summer that the Nord Stream pipeline could be attacked, and Berlin already assumed that both pipelines were targets for attacks.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline has long been in Washington's crosshairs, and the United States has been using sanctions to prevent its construction. Before Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, President Biden said the US would "end" the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
At the time, US President Joe Biden said the following confusing things about Nord Stream:
"If Germany, if Russia invades, if their tanks or their troops cross the Ukrainian border. Again. Then there will be no more Nord Stream 2.
When asked by the journalist how this would be done, given that the project is under German control, the president was brief: "I promise you that we can do it." As recently as January, Victoria Nuland, Secretary of State for Political Affairs, made a similar statement.
"If Russia invades Ukraine one way or another, the (commissioning) of Nord Stream 2 will not go ahead," she said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday was also somewhat confused about the attacks on the pipelines, saying the damage was in no one's interest.
"There are initial reports suggesting that this could be the result of an attack or some kind of sabotage, but these are initial reports and we have not confirmed that yet. But if it is confirmed, it is clearly not in anyone's interest".
Ukraine has of course accused Russia, as usual, of being behind the incident, but let's face it, Moscow had the least reason to attack the pipelines. If the pipelines are inoperable in the first place, it cannot use gas as a means of coercion to achieve its ends. Why would he throw away a trump card from his hand. A European population protesting under sanctions may, at some point, force the politicians to make some sort of deal with the Russians, and Moscow will then benefit from a working pipeline. Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that if Europe wants gas, it can open Nord Stream 2.
"The bottom line is that if you have the urge, if it causes you so many problems, then just lift the sanctions against Nord Stream 2, which is 55 billion cubic metres of gas a year. Just push the button and everything will start," he said.
The attacks on Nord Stream coincided
with attacks on the southern pipelines;
the inauguration of the Baltic Pipe natural gas pipeline, which will transport gas from Norway via Denmark to Poland;
and the Italian elections.
"The era of Russian domination of gas supplies is coming to an end, an era of blackmail, threats and coercion," said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at the inauguration ceremony for the pipeline, which was due to start delivering gas on 1 October, according to the EU.
The Swedish Maritime Administration has issued a warning for leaking gas pipelines and has restricted shipping within a five nautical mile - 9.6 kilometre - radius. "We are keeping extra watch to make sure that no vessel gets too close to the scene," said another SMA spokesman. The Danish energy agency said ships could lose buoyancy if they entered the area, and there was a risk of ignition both in the water and in the air. There is no danger to shipping outside the closed zone. The Danish authorities have ordered an increase in the country's energy and gas alert level following the leak. This means that companies in the sector must implement a series of measures to increase safety at power plants and other energy installations.
There is no question of who had an interest in attacking the pipeline, and given that the southern section was probably sabotaged by the US-coordinated Ukrainians, it is likely that their best allies were at work in the north. Who it was carried out in collaboration with is almost irrelevant,
but I suspect Danish co-production, as we have seen before that the US has used Danish intelligence services to eavesdrop on European politicians, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Danes have maintained their traditional anti-Germanism. They continue to follow Lord Ismay's modernised dictum: 'keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down'.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
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