US carried out Nord Stream bombing under top secret plan led by Joe Biden, allegations report
Specialized US Navy diving teams carried out the bombing of the Nord Stream submarine pipelines that supply Russian gas to Western Europe in a top-secret mission led by President Joe Biden, a bombshell report claims.
Divers placed C4 explosives on three Nord Stream pipelines in June 2022, which were detonated three months later using a sonar buoy that sent out a signal that set off the bombs, the report said.
The attack was carried out in response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and was intended to force Germany and other European countries to end their dependence on Russian gas, it is alleged. The move would also disrupt Moscow’s revenue from gas sales – which contributed billions of dollars to its war effort.
The sensational report by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, published on his Substack, cites a source “with direct knowledge of operational planning” behind the alleged plot.
Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were sabotaged by bombings on Sept. 26, 2022, in an attack that, ostensibly, still baffles investigators. While analysts say the immediate impact of the attack was “limited” – because the pipelines were not fully operational – the geopolitical ramifications were huge.
Several theories have been put forward as to who carried out the attack and how. Both the US and Russia deny responsibility. A new report by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh quotes a source as claiming the Nord Stream blasts were a US plot overseen by the president
The detonations occurred on Sept. 26, 2022. According to the report, U.S. Navy divers planted the explosives three months earlier, in June, before they were remotely detonated.
The Nord Stream pipelines – which cost about $20 billion and took 15 years to build – were an important part of Europe’s energy infrastructure. It is alleged that the US carried out the attack in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and to curb Europe’s dependence on gas from Moscow.
Russia, which has pointed the finger at the US, reportedly believes repairs will cost at least $500 million, but the Kremlin has still not confirmed that the pipes will be repaired. The Nord Stream project cost about $20 billion and took 15 years to build.
In a compelling 5,000-word report on the alleged attack, Hersh claims that diving experts trained at the U.S. Navy Diving and Salvage Center in Florida planted the explosives.
The divers are said to have carried out the top secret and extremely dangerous operation during BALTOPS22, a series of military exercises in the Baltic Sea conducted by 16 NATO countries. The US divers reportedly used the highly publicized, 13-day event in June 2022 as a cover for their top-secret mission.
The C4 explosives attached to the pipelines were fitted with sensors that would allow them to be detonated remotely later, Hersh reports.
Hersh reports that the explosions were caused by a sonar buoy dropped by an aircraft. The buoy emitted a series of “unique low-frequency tonal sounds,” compared to those produced by a flute or piano, which activated the C4.
A White House spokesman said the report is “false and complete fiction.” A CIA spokesman said: “This claim is completely and utterly false.”
In February, Biden said the US would “put an end” to Nord Stream if Russia invaded Ukraine. Speaking at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Biden said, “If Russia invades… then Nord Stream 2 will be longer. We’ll put an end to it.’
When asked how he would do that, the president replied cryptically, “I promise you we will succeed.”
The press conference was held while Russia was assembling tens of thousands of troops on its border with Ukraine in preparation for the invasion that began weeks later on Feb. 24.
Joe Biden reportedly oversaw the plot, but the White House and CIA have said the report is “false.” Vladimir Putin has accused the US of involvement in the attack
Thousands of tons of natural gas spilled into the Baltic Sea after the explosions, creating a dangerous swell that disrupted shipping and sparked fears of an environmental catastrophe
Planning for the attack reportedly began amid Russia’s mobilization of troops and fears in the White House that Nord Stream 2, to be completed in 2021, would allow the Kremlin to further arm its energy supplies to Europe.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan called a December 2021 meeting of a new task force composed of officials from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CIA and the State and Treasure Department.
The discussion focused on orchestrating a response to the imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Hersh reports: ‘What became clear to the participants, according to the source with direct knowledge of the process, is that Sullivan intended the group to come up with a plan for the destruction of the two Nord Stream pipelines – and that he followed through. the president’s wishes.’
Several ideas were shared before the diving mission was selected. Other plans included using a submarine to attack the pipeline or aircraft to drop bombs with delayed fuses, it is alleged.
CIA Director William Burns allegedly authorized a “working group” to draw up the plan for deep-sea divers to carry out the mission. Hersh compared the plot to a submarine espionage operation launched by the US in the 1970s, in which agents tapped submarine communications cables used by the Russian Navy.
In early 2022, according to Hersh, the CIA group told Sullivan’s task force, “We have a way to blow up the pipelines.”
The planners decided that Norway would serve as an ideal base for the operation because, in the words of Hersh’s source, the Scandinavian nation “hated the Russians and the Norwegian Navy was full of excellent sailors and divers who had generations of experience in very profitable deep-sea oil and gas exploration’.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (pictured) has accused the United States of direct involvement in explosions that severely damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea.
In March, members of the US planning team flew to Norway for talks with the Norwegian Secret Service and Navy. They decided to carry out the explosions near the island of Bornholm in Denmark, it is claimed.
The initial plan was to set explosives with a 48-hour timer, but the White House later requested a method that would allow greater control over the timing of the detonation, and the buoy technique was developed, according to the report.
Hersh reports that the buoy was dropped on Sept. 26 by a Norwegian Navy P8 surveillance aircraft “during an apparent flight” and that the explosive detonated a few hours later.
Earlier this month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the US of direct involvement in the explosions.
The Russian chief diplomat referred to a recent statement by US Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who welcomed the destruction of the pipeline in a recent Senate hearing. Lavrov described her words as a “confession.”
“This is not just the United States’ direct participation in the Nord Stream pipeline explosions. Mrs. Nuland has now made a confession,” he told state television in an interview earlier today.
Nuland said on Jan. 26, “I am, and I think the government (Biden) is very pleased to know that Nord Stream 2 is now … a piece of metal at the bottom of the sea.”
No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions, despite two separate investigations by Swedish and Danish authorities that concluded that the pipelines had been sabotaged.