Today, Wednesday, the White House categorically denied what an investigation by American investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed that the United States was responsible for the bombing of the Russian gas pipelines, "Nord Stream 1 and 2" in the Baltic Sea last September.

Hirsch claimed in his investigation, which he published in the British newspaper The Times, that last June, divers in the US Navy, with the help of Norway, planted explosives on the pipeline that extends between Russia and Germany under the waters of the Baltic Sea, only to detonate them after 3 months. .

The newspaper indicated that Hersh mentioned in his investigation that the bombing was part of a secret operation ordered by the White House and carried out by the CIA.

US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson described Hersh's investigation as "a figment of the imagination."

A CIA spokesman also reiterated the White House's denial, calling the report "completely and utterly false."

In response to a question about Hersh's claim that Oslo supported the process, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry said, "These allegations are false."

Western countries held Moscow responsible for blowing up the pipeline, exacerbating anger against it in the aftermath of the war on Ukraine.


Naval mines

Hersh, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, said that American divers used NATO military exercises in the area as a cover, planted mines along Russian pipelines and later detonated them remotely.

He added that the operation was carried out in complete secrecy under the cover of NATO exercises that were announced in the summer of last year, known as "Operations Baltic 22", and were conducted in June off the German coast.

The investigative journalist revealed that US President Joe Biden's decision to blow up Russian pipelines came after more than 9 months of secret planning with the US national security agencies, noting that "throughout that time it was not about whether that task should be done, but about ways to accomplish it." without leaving evidence pointing to the party responsible for it.

An explosion on September 26, 2022 severely damaged the "Nord Stream 1 and 2" lines in the Baltic Sea, which transport Russian gas to Europe, and Russia and Western countries exchanged accusations about responsibility for the bombing.

It was later revealed that the damage to the Russian pipelines was the result of deliberate action, but ambiguity remained the master of the situation as to who was behind it.


investigations

At the time, the US president described the gas leak in the two pipelines as "a deliberate act of sabotage" and said that Washington "will send divers to find out exactly what happened."

The UN Security Council held an emergency session at the end of September 2022, called for by Russia, to discuss the dangers posed by the event to European energy security.

In his speech during the session, Russia's representative to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzia, revealed that the Russian Prosecutor's Office had opened an international investigation in this regard.

In a veiled accusation against the United States of America, the Russian delegate said that sabotaging the Nord Stream line with this level of complexity exceeds the power of ordinary terrorists, and it cannot happen without the intervention of a state or entities it controls.

Last November, Swedish Attorney General Mats Ljungqvist announced that traces of explosive materials had been found near Nord Stream 1 and 2 lines.

He added that the United States had a lot to gain in terms of gas trade as a result of the damage to the Nord Stream pipeline network under the Baltic Sea, but his words fell short of holding Washington responsible for the bombing.

The White House dismissed the accusation as irresponsible. "The United States categorically denies any involvement in this incident," said Richard Mills, the deputy representative of the United States to the United Nations at the meeting.

Denmark, Sweden and Germany opened separate investigations to find out who was responsible for blowing up the pipes, but those investigations did not reach a significant result except that they confirmed that what happened was a deliberate act, and Sweden revealed the presence of traces of explosives on the pipes that were sabotaged.