Russia demands UN probe Nord Stream blasts

Lawmakers in the Russian State Duma, the lower house of parliament, unanimously voted on Thursday to adopt an appeal to the UN demanding a probe into the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in September. MPs described the incident as a “crime committed by the US.”

The move comes after a bombshell exposé was published by veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh last week revealing how Washington and its NATO ally Norway cooperated to develop a plan to destroy the pipelines.

Russia’s appeal was prepared on behalf of State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, who, during Thursday’s parliament meeting, called the blasts a terrorist attack.

“Just think about it: a terrorist act aimed against Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. The USA, shamelessly, brought it into motion, with President Biden publicly endorsing it,” Volodin said. He also noted how the countries involved in the incident were “working on instructions from both the CIA and the US.”

The appeal was initially introduced to the State Duma by the Parliament Committee for International Relations on Tuesday. The document states that “the Biden administration, which issued the unlawful order, bears full responsibility for causing multibillion-dollar damage to the owners of the most important energy infrastructure for the Eurasian Continent.”

The document insists that Washington must answer for the “long-term detrimental effect of this attack on the economic development of the countries of the region” and the “catastrophic damage to the environment.” According to the lawmakers, Washington’s “cynical desire” for geopolitical hegemony and the “physical elimination of natural competitors” puts US leaders “on par with ruthless terrorist and war criminals.”

On September 26, a series of explosions heavily damaged both Nord Stream pipelines, which were built under the Baltic Sea to deliver Russian natural gas to Germany and other EU nations. 

The blasts happened near the Danish island of Bornholm, in an area where the US Navy and its NATO allies conducted BALTOPS 22 drills several months prior. According to Hersh, American divers planted the explosives under the cover of the naval exercise, and later detonated the bombs using a Norwegian patrol plane.

Washington has repeatedly denied responsibility for the attack, denouncing Hersh’s revelations as “fiction.”

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