Intelligence Suggests Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Pipelines, U.S. Officials Say
New York TimesMar 07, 2023
The Facts
Veteran investigative reporter Seymour Hersh alleged on Wednesday that US Pres. Biden and his administration fed US and German media "false cover stories" of how the Nord Stream pipelines were destroyed following Hersh's exposé on how it had allegedly been conducted and who was responsible for the attack.
In February, Hersh — citing an unnamed US source who he claimed had "direct knowledge of the operational planning" of the attack — reported that US Navy divers, operating under the cover of a NATO exercise in the Baltic Sea, planted remotely triggered explosives that were set off three months later to destroy three of the four pipelines.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
While inconclusive, intelligence reviewed by US officials suggests that the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines was carried out by a pro-Ukrainian group that viewed Russia's ability to sell gas to Europe as a threat to ongoing European support for Ukraine. However, the mystery of who was responsible remains largely unsolved.
Establishment-critical narrative
The US was responsible for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines. After Hersh's exposé, the CIA sought to muddy the waters and provide an alternative story to shift the blame elsewhere.
Nerd narrative
There is a 10% chance that Russia will capture or surround a large Ukrainian city before June 1, 2023, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
