Poland 1939 Redux: Russia threatens UK, gets froggy WW
As I am sure you have read, multiple published sources say Russia is claiming that the UK is responsible for the explosions that took out the Nord Stream II pipelines.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Saturday that British navy personnel blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines last month, a claim that London said was false and designed to distract from Russian military failures in Ukraine.
Russia did not give evidence for its claim that a leading NATO member had sabotaged critical Russian infrastructure amid the worst crisis in relations between the West and Russia since the depths of the Cold War.
The Russian ministry said that “British specialists” from the same unit directed Ukrainian drone attacks on ships of Russian Black Sea fleet in Crimea earlier on Saturday that it said were largely repelled by Russian forces, with minor damage to a Russian minesweeper.
As you might expect, the U.K. is denying any involvement. Russia is, however, threatening retaliation.
“There is evidence that Britain is involved in sabotage … a terrorist act against vital energy infrastructure,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“Such actions cannot be put aside. Of course, we will think about further steps. It definitely cannot be left like this,” Peskov said.
So without providing any evidence (sound anything like all the supposed Ukraininen fascist transgression allegations?) they threaten a staunch NATO ally. Best estimates suggest Russia could target the Norway to UK gas pipelines. Hardly a proportional response – bad enough the Nord Stream explosions threaten Northern Europe this winter, an attack on the UK’s infrastructure would be seen by many as a clear act of war. No bueno.
A well known Russian hacker group also launched denial-of-service attacks on various low-level targets:
The U.S. Treasury last month repelled cyber attacks by a pro-Russian hacker group, preventing disruption and confirming the effectiveness of the department’s stronger approach to financial system cybersecurity, a U.S. Treasury official said on Tuesday.
The Treasury has attributed the distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks to Killnet, the Russian hacker group that claimed responsibility for disrupting the websites of several U.S. states and airports in October, said Todd Conklin, cybersecurity counselor to Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo.
Manwhile Russia suspended traffic along a maritime corridor used by Ukrainian grain shipments in the Black Sea due to the afore-mentioned drone attacks.
Russia said on Monday it was “unacceptable” for shipping to pass through a Black Sea security corridor after it suspended its participation in a Turkish- and U.N.-brokered deal that had allowed Ukraine to resume grain exports.
“The movement of ships along the security corridor is unacceptable, since the Ukrainian leadership and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine use it to conduct military operations against the Russian Federation,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Seems someone in the Kremlin needs to slow their roll… betweeen cyberattacks, shipping closures, threatened sabotage: one of these days they will get the attention of more than Ukraine and may find out swiftly they have bitten off more than they can effectively chew.
I can’t help but personally remember the phrase; “Cui Bono?”, meaning roughly “Who Benefits?” The UK or the US attacking the pipeline to increase sales or profits is pretty thin: the added hassle and consequences just don’t make economic sense. Now, if the Russians look at it as screwing up first Europe’s energy supplies, then possibly the UK’s, forcing us to concentrate on trying to keep our allies alive this winter instead of eyeblling Russia while Putin tries to reincarnate himself as Peter – THAT makes a lot more sense. For me (just to throw another older axiom in) Occam’s Razor clearly favors Russia as the guilty party. But hey, that is just my opinion.
Category: Foreign Policy, International Affairs, Russia, Ukraine
But Russia said for a month it was an accident.
Attacking the UK is really not a good idea and will likely go much more poorly than the Ukraine invasion. Like epically much worse.
1939?
More like countries thinking they know what is going on and stumbling into the Great War of 1914-1918.
FAFO!
Speaking about getting Froggy.
Q-How deep is a frogs pond
A-NEEE DEEEP NEEE DEEEP.
Odd fact, the Nord Stream 2 was never certified for use, and was essentially abandoned by Russia.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline lies abandoned after Russia invaded Ukraine (cnbc.com)