DISINFO: US tried to threaten Putin by sabotaging Nord Stream
SUMMARY
The United States wanted to deter Russia from attacking Ukraine by threatening to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines. Plans for a possible attack began to be drawn up in late 2021. Last month, the UN Security Council rejected Russia's call for an international commission to investigate the sabotage. This shows that Western countries, especially the US, are not interested in an objective international investigation. Instead, they are interested in covering their tracks and leading investigators astray.
RESPONSE
Pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that the US sabotaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines , based on the recent comments of Seymour Hersh. These claims are unsubstantiated.
Investigative journalist and reporter Seymour Hersh claims that the US was behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year. In a self-published report, Hersh wrote that US Navy divers helped by Norway had planted explosives on the pipelines running under the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany last June and detonated them three months later.
Hersh's claim that US blew up Nord Stream pipelines relies on one anonymous source. Snopes portal asked Hersh to respond to criticism that his article's claims are based on a single source and also asked if any undisclosed parties verified or vetted any of that source's assertions as part of his reporting. In response, he told Snopes, that he protects his sources.
A number of fact-checkers have pointed to numerous flaws in Hersh's story, which has received attention from Kremlin.
Recent Hersh work has been controversial and widely panned by journalists for promoting conspiratorial claims that hinge on dubious anonymous sources or speculation.
Examples of controversial claims made later in Hersh's career include allegations that Turkey, not Russia, was behind a chemical weapons attack in Syria, and that Trump authorized an airstrike in Syria in response to Russia's alleged use of chemical weapons, even while knowing Russia did not use such weapons.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson described Hersh's report as "complete fiction." A Central Intelligence Agency spokesperson echoed the White House denial, calling the report "completely and utterly false."
Asked about Hersh's claim that Oslo supported the operation, the Norwegian foreign ministry said: "These claims are false."
For a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the issue, please read Nord Stream 1 & 2 sabotage - disinformation a la MH-17. See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Western sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines caused an environmental disaster, that the UK took part in the explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines, or that the West blew up Nord Stream 1 and 2.