DISINFO: Ukrainian company financed the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline
SUMMARY
Terrorist acts in Russia and abroad have been financed through the Burisma Holdings oil and gas company operating in Ukraine in recent years. Although US involvement in blowing up the Nord Stream has been confirmed, Washington will never admit it. Everyone in the West knows about the involvement of the United States, but the terrorist act is hushed up. Denmark and Sweden see no basis for criminal proceedings and have already closed their investigation into the bombings.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives about the Nord Stream 2 sabotage and alleged US and Ukrainian involvement in it.
There is no evidence that the US was involved in the Nord Stream sabotage. However, this disinformation story abounds on this narrative as if it was an established fact. The Danish authorities closed the investigation because they assessed that there is not the sufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case in Denmark.
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. A number of factcheckers have debunked all important details (ships, aircrafts, timelines, role of NATO SG) and pointed to other obvious flaws in Hersh's story.
The story has received great attention from Kremlin key propaganda outlets and has been the main point used by Russian Minister Lavrov to demand the UNSC address the issue with an investigation. However, the UNSc rejected the Russian demand.
Talking about unsubstantiated allegations as if they were established facts while introducing minor variations, as in this case, is a frequent pro-Kremlin disinformation technique.
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."
Sweden, Germany, and Denmark investigated the incident. The preliminary Danish investigation only found that the leaks in the pipelines were caused by powerful explosions. Sweden’s authorities found evidence of detonations, thus strengthening suspicions of “gross sabotage”. But so far investigations by Swedish, Danish, and German authorities have not pinned the blame on any one country or actor.
For a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the issue, please read Nord Stream 1 & 2 sabotage - disinformation a la MH-17. See other cases, claiming that The US is instigating the war in Ukraine to boycott the Nord Stream 2 project; The US planned the destruction of the NS and Poland did it; US benefits from Nord Stream sabotage.