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After nearly three years, the "Nord Stream" pipeline explosion has once again made headlines. Western media reported that Sergey Kuznetsov, a Ukrainian suspected of involvement in the "Nord Stream" gas pipeline explosion, was recently arrested in Italy and will be extradited to Germany.

The 49-year-old Ukrainian man, who was arrested while on holiday on the Adriatic coast, was arrested by the Italian police after the police found that he was a European wanted person when they checked in passengers for hotels or apartments. The man was not only suspected of involvement in the crime, but may have been the main person responsible for the sabotage operation.

In this regard, "Russia Today" (RT) on the 24th put into question, saying that this new progress, but not closer to the truth, instead let more questions emerge: at the beginning the West a bite "only state behavior can do", also suggests that Russia is behind the scenes, why now turn to promote "small team spontaneous action"? 15 meters long yacht support operation?

Russia's first deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, said on August 22 that Russia had asked the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion, scheduled for August 26. Polyansky said Russia would point out Germany's delays in the investigation and its opacity to the Security Council.

In September 2022, the "Nord Stream" natural gas pipeline leaked

According to information disclosed by the German side, Kuznetsov led a group of six people using fake documents to rent a yacht called "The Fairy Tails" in the northern port city of Rostock, Germany.

This is very similar to what the Wall Street Journal a year ago. The report at the time pointed to Ukraine, saying that a group of Ukrainians ¡°drived by alcohol and patriotic enthusiasm¡± planned the operation with a very low budget. Citing several sources, Zelensky said that Zelensky initially approved several officers¡¯ plans to destroy the North Stream, but that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was informed about it and asked to stop it. Zelensky called for a halt after receiving instructions, but the Ukrainian armed forces ignored the order and continued to move forward.

The case had largely stalled before the Wall Street Journal's report, which was seen by many western observers as a decisive breakthrough.

According to RT reports, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov had previously made it clear that such a scale of destruction operation could never be accomplished by a small team lacking professional training and support.

As early as September last year, Lavrov commented: "Five people sat together drinking and chatting, and then decided why not to bomb North Creek? Reports said they could dive, rented a boat, sailed to the sea where the North Stream Pipeline passed, dived into the water to set up explosives, and then detonated them."

Ukrainian man arrested in Italy: video

Lavrov said bluntly that if anyone really believes this statement, it can only be those who are afraid of the truth and try to defend the Ukrainian government in any way.

At the beginning of the incident, Western officials and commentators agreed that the case was likely to be done by ¡°state actors¡± and that Russia was seen as the culprit behind the scenes. Only days after the incident, the Washington Post published a commentary, saying that usually only state actors are capable of carrying out such destruction, and warned the West ¡°to be prepared for more attacks¡±, in the letter lines hinting on Russia¡¯s ¡°suspicions¡±.

However, with less and less controversy about Russia, statements about ¡°state actors¡± have begun to diminish in Western media, but recent reports have shown that the German side believes the operation requires ¡°military planning.¡±

In addition, several experts have expressed doubts that a 15-meter-long yacht like the Andromeda could support an operation involving high explosives. According to German investigative documents obtained by Swedish television, the Nord Stream gas pipeline was damaged by at least four time bombs weighing 14 to 27 kilograms.

This reportedly involves not only weight issues, but also volume and safety. The Andromeda yacht has limited space and no cargo hold, so it is unrealistic to transport high explosives, because such explosives usually require storage containers, lifting equipment and complex detonation systems, which will almost exceed the reasonable carrying limit of small ships.

Many observers question whether it is really feasible to carry and deploy a complete set of sophisticated diving equipment, hybrid gas systems, explosive and transporting equipment, plus explosives themselves, while disguised as an ordinary sailing trip.

In addition, the feasibility of submerging explosives up to 70-80 meters deep is also questionable. Experts say that the depth of recreational water pulmonary diving usually does not exceed 40 meters, and the operation requires the installation of explosives on two pipelines 4 kilometers apart, and four dives are required, each diving requires the ship to stay in the target sea area for about 3 hours. This long deep diving is likely to require a dehumidifier for divers, and ships such as the "Fantasy" can hardly accommodate the dehumidifier.

Another unsolved mystery is how the Ukraine Action Team avoided detection. How was this operation, which took almost days to complete, carried out?

As a result of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, NATO has strengthened its maritime and air patrol in the region. But NATO has failed to detect any abnormal activity. If a group of six people actually completed this operation on a small yacht and was not detected, it means a serious vulnerability to NATO¡¯s surveillance system, which has made it difficult for many experts to accept.

It is worth mentioning that in June 2022, NATO held a military exercise in the waters near the explosion site. Senior American journalist Seymour Hersh believes that NATO used this exercise as a cover to lay explosives that could be triggered remotely and detonated them three months later.

Four leakage points of the "North Stream" pipeline, British Guardian map

The "Nord Stream-1" pipeline was opened in 2012 and runs directly from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea to supply natural gas to European countries. The "Nord Stream-2" natural gas pipeline has a total length of about 1222 kilometers, parallel to the "Nord Stream-1" pipeline. It runs from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. The project pipeline consists of two branch lines with a designed annual gas transmission capacity of approximately 55 billion cubic meters., aiming to bypass traditional transit countries such as Ukraine and supply natural gas directly to Europe. The pipeline project officially started in 2015 and was completed on September 10, 2021. However, it has been delayed due to obstruction from the United States.

Between 26 and 28 September 2022, at least four leaks of gas pipelines "Nord Stream 1" and "Nord Stream 2" were found in waters near Sweden and Denmark, suspected of man-made damage.

After the incident, Denmark, Sweden and Germany respectively launched investigations, but declined Russia's involvement.In February 2024, Sweden and Denmark announced the end of the investigation, but Germany said it would continue the investigation.

Today Kuznetsov is arrested and whether it will unravel the major mystery of the North Stream pipeline explosion remains unknown.

Source | Observer.com