Who really blew up the Nord Stream pipeline?
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Who was behind the Nord Stream sabotage and why did it happen?
When something significant happens in British politics, stories are always unfolding behind closed doors. The State of It podcast from the Times and the Sunday Times takes you inside the room where it happens. I'm Stephen Swinford, the political editor of the Times, and with me are Patrick Maguire, Lara Spirit, and Ben Riley Smith. We will bring you scoops and analysis about what is really going on in Westminster. Listen to The State of It twice a week, wherever you You get your podcasts.
This episode of The General and the Journalist is brought to you by Team Orion. At a time where the world is increasingly uncertain, defense needs more than traditional logistics to face those challenges. It takes trusted data, rapid decision making, and operational resilience. That's where T Marion comes in. Strengthen defence readiness through integration. Combining the sovereign expertise of KBR, Unipart and IBM, Teamuron delivers the decision making power and support systems to sustain forces when the stakes are high. Discover how Team Orion is helping shape the future of defense readiness. Follow them on LinkedIn at Team Orion Defense. An extraordinarily daring secret sabotage operation, 80 meters beneath the freezing Baltic Sea.
The mission? To blow up the Nord Stream Pipeline, the biggest energy link between Russia and Western Europe. And in the middle of the plot, a former erotic model. Well, it really does read like a spy novel, which is why probably a Hollywood movie about it has just started filming. And the controversy is far from over yet with fresh developments this week. So who did blow up the Nord Stream pipeline and why? I'm Tom and welcome to The General and the Journalist. Well, if you think the Nord Stream story is worthy of a book, we're in luck because as Patrick is away this week, I'm joined by the brilliant journalist who has just written that very book. Making this week's episode, if you like, the journalist and the journalist.
He is Boyan Panchevsky, the Wall Street Journal's chief European political correspondent, who recently published the Nord Stream Conspiracy. Boyan, welcome. Hi, thanks for Well, thanks so much for for coming on. You and I've been talking about this book for for some while and boy, a little bit of um idolatry out the way. I have to tell you you're one of about three or four journalists I have a Twitter alert set up for. So much do I value all your reporting. Oh Tom, thank you so much. That's very kind of you. First of all, I'm fascinated why you chose to to write this book. It's hugely ambitious because effectively what you're trying to do is solve The Who Dunit mystery, which at the same time two, three, four European police forces and intelligence agencies have also been trying to do since September twenty twenty two, this all started.
So what made you think you could do?
But What kind of made me want to write the book is is essentially the protagonists, the characters of this plot, because when I got to know the people who carried out the attack on the pipeline, and then shortly thereafter I met the detectives who are hunting them, the German detectives, I realized these are kind of personalities on both sides, uh, in fact, large Than life, and and and the only way to do justice to their saga was to to write a substantial book that now is o over thir three hundred pages long. I started working on the story as soon as I saw the first footage. You know, that was the Danish Navy kind of F-16 footage of of these giant gazers in the middle of the Baltic, kind of bubbling away.
Uh uh, you know, they were gigantic, literally. and it was pretty clear that someone had blown up the pipelines and it was, you know, for me that was it that was, you know, the cue to start to start working on this story. And it took me about three years to to solve the puzzle.
Well, it's such a cracking read. Before we get into precisely what happened, perhaps just explain what the Nord Stream pipeline was and and why it was so important as well.
Well, the Nord Stream pipeline system was the world's biggest offshore pipeline system uh and it consisted of two pipelines, in fact, Nord Stream one and Nord Stream two.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
Who was behind the Nord Stream sabotage and why did it happen?
0:00–19:28
2
Why was the Nord Stream pipeline such a strategic asset for Europe?
19:28–30:07
3
How did a tiny team of divers, a rented yacht and a former model carry out the operation?
30:07–42:47
4
Who were the seven operatives – the divers, the skipper and the ‘Freya’?
42:47–47:34