Who blew up the Nordstream Pipelines?

Who was responsible for the Nordstream pipeline explosions?

 Certainly an intriguing question, that has not been solved so far.

Just as intruiging are the comments from certain quarters - for instance that the investors or operators could be safely excluded as being responsible for the sabotage. In fact, the such sabotage fits the Russian style under duress rather well - remember that Russia/Putin had every interest to manoeuvre the West into a corner on energy, obtain higher prices, and possibly squeeze some political mileage out of accusing the US or the UK. From a technical point of view, a likely cause of the explosions point to pipeline robots (so-called "pigs" that are routinely sent down such pipes for service purposes), and would therefore have been under the full control of the Russian side. Other hypotheses have included the application of explosives from the outside, either in the form used for controlled severing of a pipeline, or the deposition of a larger quantity of explosive near the pipe. Evidence against the use of a robot from the inside is quoted in the form of an underwater picture showing a cleanly cut piece of the pipe - but this might have been the result of sampling activity by the Swedish investigations (which are held under wraps for the time being).

- but this might have been the result of sampling activity by the Swedish investigations (which are held under wraps for the time being). Another recent report indicated that there were suspicious movements by a small sailing yacht at the questionable times, pointing to Ukrainian involvement, but there are good reasons for believing this is a fake trail planted by some interested party. A Greek tanker, located in the corresponding place and at the corresponding times would seem a likelier candidate for the larger underwater depositions required.

In looking a bit further, a website authored by a German explosives specialist, while written from a rather technical perspective, gives quite a rounded view of developments to date in the Nordstream case and the various hypotheses. According to this explosives expert, the "external application of explosives" theory seems most likely. And contrary to the dismissal of Russian interests, such would be totally consistent with Russian strategies and capabilities.