DISINFO: The US was behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream Pipelines
SUMMARY
U.S. Navy divers planted explosives under the Nord Stream pipelines last summer and the Norwegians activated them three months later, as detailed by the respected investigative journalist Seymour Hersh. The pipelines were destroyed by order of the US President Joe Biden because he was afraid of Germany's likely withdrawal from sanctions against Moscow amid the unfavorable state of the conflict in Ukraine for the West.
RESPONSE
Conspiracy theory is not backed by any evidence and playing a part in a wider disinformation campaign aiming to fill the information space surrounding the NS pipelines explosions, depicting the West as the perpetrator.
Investigative journalist and Vietnam War-era Pulitzer Prize-winning 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 the US blew up the 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 factcheckers have pointed to numerous flaws in Hersh's story. Notably, Hersh’s recent work has been controversial and widely panned by journalists for promoting conspiratorial claims that hinge on dubious anonymous sources or speculation.
Hersh's story has received wide attention from Kremlin incl. its key propaganda outlets.
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."
Denmark, Sweden and Germany are still conducting investigations to establish the cause of the leaks. European investigators say the attacks were deliberate, but they have not said who they think was responsible. Moscow, without providing evidence, has blamed the explosions on Western sabotage.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Nord Stream pipelines were destroyed by a coalition of countries headed by the US, that the UK took part in the explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines, or that the West blew up Nord Stream 1 and 2.