Will the Real Volodymyr Z Please Stand Up?
Will the Real Volodymyr Stand Up?
John Miles“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive”Western governments’ statements after the 2022 explosion of the Russo-German Nord Stream pipeline have gone from unconvincing to implausible as claims Russia blew up its own infrastructure have given way to the assertion an amateur diver by the name of “Volodymyr Z” was responsible for the massive act of sabotage.Observers have speculated over the motivations for the new story. Recent polling suggests the environmental catastrophe is still fresh in Europeans’ minds, with large majorities of citizens concerned over the lack of clarity over the incident according to recent polling. A full 71% of Germans are worried over the lack of results from recent investigations into the matter; the country’s economy has cratered in the wake of its loss of access to cheap Russian natural gas, with industry shuttering and economic growth sputtering.The latest explanation from German authorities, revealed to the public with the announcement of the latest suspect, has similarly been met with skepticism, with observers doubting the ability of anyone other than highly-trained military or intelligence personnel to pull off the complex act of sabotage.“We’re being told that these are not professional [divers],” noted analyst Ted Rall, referring to the small group of co-conspirators who are claimed to have assisted the suspect. “You think about the logistical challenge. You have to go to 260 feet. It’s pitch dark. It’s freezing cold. It’s freezing cold in the Caribbean at 260 feet. But this is the Baltic Sea, so it’s bitter.”The saboteurs would also likely have to break through the concrete casing protecting the pipeline, Rall noted, and finish planting the bomb and flee to safety during the limited amount of time they would have sufficient oxygen to operate at such a depth. “This is not only not true, this cannot be true,” he claimed, “at least not using the laws of physics as they exist on our planet.”
AnalysisWestern Governments Sell Farfetched Nord Stream Tale to Wary Public16 August, 04:24 GMTThe supposed break in the case comes one year after it was claimed the US Central Intelligence Agency had suspected a six-person team of Ukrainian special operations personnel of planning the explosion. Investigations into the incident carried out by authorities in Sweden and Denmark have been closed due to an alleged lack of evidence, with Kelley Beaucar Vlahos of the Quincy Institute noting the investigations likely got “too close for comfort” to the truth for the US allies.“We will bring an end to it,” said US President Joe Biden in February 2022, promising the United States would move to end the transfer of gas via the Nord Stream pipeline if Russia took action to liberate ethnic Russian citizens in the Donbass. “I promise you: We will be able to do it.”
