German officials have not yet provided any information on the possible cause of the damage. However, Berlin's Tagesspiegel newspaper cited German security circles saying that sabotage was strongly suspected. "Our imagination no longer allows for a scenario in which this is not a targeted attack," the newspaper quoted its source as saying.
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said it was "hard to imagine" that the leaks were "accidental."
Speaking to Danish media while on a visit to Poland, Frederiksen said: "It's an unusual situation, to have three leaks a distance from each other. That's why it's hard to imagine that it's accidental."
Separately, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was "extremely concerned" by the reports of damage and that no option, including sabotage, can be excluded at the moment.
"Obviously, there is a destruction of the pipeline. And what the reason is, there is no option that can be ruled out until the results of the investigation emerge," Peskov was cited as saying by Interfax state news agency. "This is an absolutely unprecedented situation that needs to be resolved quickly."
Sure looks like something the US would pull :amerikkka:
Everyone I know looked at me funny when I said that the US was going to treat Europe like the Middle East and aim to completely destabilise all of it then reap whatever it can gain from opportunities that the chaos provides.
It is the only way that they know how to operate. Europe is now a major theatre for them and they are operating in it exactly as they operate everywhere else in the world.
seems like there's going to be some EU countries leaving the Schengen Area and reinstituting border controls
I was in Germany during the ISIS attacks in Nice and Paris, they started checking passports right away in Germany. Even for trains and shit, other backpackers were saying they got stopped. Schengen travel freedom is highly contingent, people think it's sacrosanct but it's gone as soon as the state decides it.
other backpackers were saying they got stopped. Schengen travel freedom is highly contingent, people think it’s sacrosanct but it’s gone as soon as the state decides it.
Schengen travel is especially contingent on :us-foreign-policy: . If you dare to be black in public, or look middle eastern, you will get controlled much more often.
Honestly, I hadn't thought of it but yeah melanin content played a huge role in 2016 deciding who was stopped and who just had their passport checked.
The Schengen Area was like the one good thing about the EU and it’ll be the first to go
Americans only know how to destabilize regions, steal resources and lie
I cut the pipelines with a pair of comically large cartoon scissors
In Denmark, just waiting for my government to conclude that it was the Russians. Who for some reason decided to blow up the pipeline rather than just turn the big dial on their end to "off". Because they're evil or whatever.
The idea this was Russia for some inexplicable reason seems patently absurd. So of course the BBC is now running with it.
- Most aggressive country on the planet
- Largest, most advanced military, particularly at sea
- Long history of doing anything that will advance its interests, even if it means kneecapping an ally
Who could have done this?
It's obviously the dang rooskies trying to destroy a big part of their own leverage during a war. Pootin is a madman!
It must have been this Andreas Malm guy, he wrote a book about blowing up pipelines! :joker-troll:
or straight up blaming Russia because they are devious and/or illogical
USA: Motive, Means, literally a statement of intent
Russia: Motive, not only lacking means but is significantly harmed by this
Reddit: Anyone questioning that RunZZia may not have done this is a Pootinbot
Obviously the US benefits from the destruction of the pipeline but at the moment the pipeline isn't in use anyway. Unless it will take years to fix the pipeline I wonder how the benefits outweigh the risks of being found out.
Russia doesn't have a good reason to damage the pipeline since they control the gas flow anyway. Unless this is some kind of contractual issue and they need a reason for not delivering gas? Not really familiar with how these things work.
It does kinda benefit the German goverment atm since it shuts up the opposition who wants to appease Russia and reactivate the pipeline. Though there won't be federal elections until 2025 and I seriously wonder if the German goverment would be competent enough to sabotage the pipeline without getting caught.
Maybe I'm missing something though.
if i were a german official interested in false-flagging that shit i'd just trick the americans into doing it and let them take the risk on the coverup
It does kinda benefit the German goverment atm since it shuts up the opposition who wants to appease Russia and reactivate the pipeline.
It is worth noting that the pipeline was a pet project of the SPD, which leads the coalition in government now and which, in the leadup to the Iraq war, decided to win the election by very publicly refusing to participate in Dubya's little regime change adventure. They were joined in that by the Greens, who are also part of the coalition and who hold the German equivalent to the state department like they did last time they were in charge. So there's two out of three parties that the State Department has some reason to distrust, even though Scholz and Baerbock are a lot more toothless and pro-US than Schröder used to be.
So from an American perspective, there is a reason to show the German government that fucking around will not be tolerated. You're right that the elections are still 3 years away, but people are becoming restive as winter approaches and energy costs soar.
https://nitter.snopyta.org/ABC/status/1490792461979078662 (Feb 7)
Pres. Biden: "If Russia invades...then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2. We will bring an end to it."
Reporter: "But how will you do that, exactly, since...the project is in Germany's control?"
Biden: "I promise you, we will be able to do that."
https://nitter.snopyta.org/statedept/status/1486818088016355336 (Jan 27)
Victoria Nuland: “If Russia invades Ukraine, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 will not move forward.”
I will not make a statement (as if my statement even matters) because I've been wrong many times in this insane conflict.
link from tweet thread
https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/schleswig-holstein/US-Navy-zeigt-Flagge-in-der-oestlichen-Ostsee,usnavy102.html
Can't read the language, but seems to indicate US Navy vessels in the area turning off their nav beacons or something.
Mentions USS Kearsarge being one of the ships in the area.
https://www.marinevesseltraffic.com/vessels/USS-Kearsarge-(LHD-3)/CURRENT-POSITION/1/368702000
Shown very near to the location of pipeline damage by the island mentioned in the pipeline articles, Bornholm.
Time to wonder where the USS Jimmy Carter is.....
During modification, her hull was extended 100 feet (30 m) to create a 2,500-ton supplementary middle section which forms a Multi-Mission Platform (MMP). This section is fitted with an ocean interface for divers, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and special operation equipment; ROV handling system, storage, and deployment space for mission systems, and a pressure-resistant passage between the fore and aft parts of the submarine to accommodate the boat's crew.
Can’t read the language, but seems to indicate US Navy vessels in the area turning off their nav beacons or something.
Mentions USS Kearsarge being one of the ships in the area.
The article just says that the US is moving ships towards the baltic see. The auther speculates that this is related to FInnland and Sweden joining NATO.
It doesn't say anything about Nav beacons.(see below)OK, the accompanying post with the link mentioned AIS (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_identification_system) being turned off for this vessel. Unfortunately I don't see the tweet anymore.
The article does mention AIS being turned off:
Am Mittwochmorgen gegen 6 Uhr hat der Verband die dänische Insel Bornholm bereits passiert, dann schalten die Amerikaner ihre automatischen Schiffs-Identifikations-Systeme (AIS) aus und sind ohne Weiteres nicht mehr zu orten.
On Wednesday morning at around 6:00, the fleet has already passed the Danish island of Bornholm, then the Americans turn off their automatic ship-identification systems (AIS) and cannot be located anymore without effort.
(my translation, German is my first language)
Also worth mentioning that the Kearsarge is a vessel for amphibious operations :thonk:
You're right, I missed that part. Still seems unrelated to the pipeline though as the dates don't match up.
That response from "Kyiv's presidential advisor Mikhaylo Podolyak" is fucking wild, in the same breath as blaming Moscow for the leaks, they also just beg for German tanks on twitter.
Ukrainian politicians LOVE German tanks, they ask for them in every single statement. It's almost a cartago delenda est thing, except for wehraboos who like to downplay the holocaust and blame Stalin for WW2.
Man, i miss 2016 when our biggest worries were people dressing up as clowns and scaring people.
