They were more than just gas pipelines. They were among the most important economic links between Russia and Europe. They were symbols of the continent’s dependence on Russian energy. And they were conduits for the Kremlin to spread corruption and malign influence.
And on September 26, 2022 the NordStream natural gas pipelines were destroyed in a series of mysterious explosions.
The question of who was behind this brazen attack remains one of the most consequential unsolved mysteries of Russia’s sixteen-month-old war against Ukraine. And in the absence of facts and conclusions, the predictable speculation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories have stepped into the void.
So what really happened to Nord Stream? On The Power Vertical Podcast this week, host Brian Whitmore speaks to Benjamin Schmitt, Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy and a former European Energy Security Advisor at the U.S. State Department, and Anna Mikulska, a fellow in energy studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute.
Enjoy…
SHOW NOTES
Benjamin Schmitt’s work can be accessed here and here. Anna Mikulska’s work can be accessed here and here.
The report in The New York Times citing Western intelligence reports suggesting pro-Ukrainian groups sabotaged Nord Stream, which was discussed in the podcast, can be accessed here. A report suggesting Poland was the base of operations for the attack can be found here. The report citing Polish investigators casting doubt on these claims can be found here.
The report discussed on the podcast suggesting that Russian ships able to perform underwater operations were present near to where explosions later took place on the Nord Stream pipelines can be accessed here.