Investigators say they have not yet found concrete proof of a Russian sabotage operation, despite the fact that world leaders initially blamed Russia for the explosions that largely disabled two important natural gas pipelines in September, according to a new report published on Wednesday by The Washington Post.
Officials in the US and Western nations initially accused Russia of attempting to “blackmail” the West into withdrawing support for Ukraine by restricting an essential energy source to Europe via the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 liquid natural gas (LNG) pipelines as winter approached, according to the Post.
These officials included German Economy Minister Robert Habeck and an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Post was privately informed by a number of officials with knowledge of current investigations that they now question Russia’s involvement in the attacks.
According to some authorities, it wouldn’t make sense for Russia to destroy the infrastructure required to enable LNG shipments that generate income.
Others stated that while they believe Russia to be the most probable offender, the lack of solid proof may make it hard to pin the assault on a specific country.
Four leaks have been definitely linked to three explosions that occurred on September 26 by analysts and seismologists using data gathered around the time of the damage and explosive residue recovered from the bottom of the Baltic Sea.
A German government official informed the outlet that there is evidence suggesting the offender installed explosive material on the pipes’ construction, therefore there is also solid cause to suspect the explosions were not the product of an accident.
Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations that it may have been involved in the sabotage of its own equipment and instead claimed that the U.S. was actually the party responsible for the sabotage.
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