Western Officials Say Russia May Not Be Behind Pipeline Bombing
WHODUNIT?
Western officials say Russia might not have been responsible for the mysterious explosions that damaged undersea pipelines supplying energy to Europe in September, according to a report. Although several prominent figures including world leaders quickly pointed the finger at Moscow for the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, months of investigation haven’t found any hard evidence suggesting Russia was responsible, The Washington Post reports. “There is no evidence at this point that Russia was behind the sabotage,” one anonymous European official said, expressing a view reportedly representative of those shared by 23 intelligence officials and diplomats from nine countries interviewed by the Post. Some said that definitively blaming any state actor for the incident—which is widely considered to have been a deliberate operation—may not be possible, the Post reports. Russian officials have previously blamed the U.S. for the explosions.