Three of the pipes were ruptured by unexplained blasts in September, and one of the Nord Stream 2 pipes remains intact.
www.reuters.com
I was told over and over again this was needed infrastructure for Russia, and that if someone else did it, they would rebuild these lines. Look I admit probably in my mind around a 40% chance the US did it. Here are 3 reasons why it could still be Russia.
1. No no one has been able to find a 2nd source to support the initial claim of Hersh's, this isn't something that you can just make disappear if it occurred. Military are heavily leaning republican generally and you have some like you that would lean towards supporting Russia (I have no understanding why). You would think you could find 1 more disgruntled individual. Crickets.
2. As stated before these pipelines were never going to be used again. Proven by Russia mothballing them. They had no intention of ever using them again because there is no current or future need in Europe for that amount of fuel due to the actions of Russia.
3. Russia never attacked the US after this and really have been relatively quiet. This would be the reason to use a nuke yet never did. (Either they know the US didn't do it, or they know they are so weak that they know they can't attack the US, either case looks very badly on Russia).
4. You state the anonymous source stating a pro Ukraine group did the attack is no good, but you believe Hersh's ( again who is the special level of stupid). You have to look at both articles with a grain of salt but also acknowledge they may be a piece of the puzzle.
You keep bringing up elected officials saying something from 20-30 years ago like it holds any water to current day events. Lets look at the stupid things Putin has said. Claiming there is current day Nazi's in Ukraine. There may have been some right wing crazies, just like in the US, Russia or any other place, but Ukraine was not Euthanizing full groups of individuals - Unlike what Russia is doing by wiping off whole cities off the Ukraine map. He claims this was liberating Ukraine - no this was all just about a land grab to create a buffer and have access to more natural resources. Putin thought the war would end in 2 days. Multiple times has claimed has wanted to negotiate a peace yet within a day or two is bombing some other building or having a new counter offensive. There is no rational reason for the Ukraine War by Russia none. Yet you continue to say I am the stupid kind of Gump. If the US had attacked the pipelines it would equate to the quote -"Play stupid games, win Stupid prizes."
USD to RUB currency chart. XE’s free live currency conversion chart for US Dollar to Russian Ruble allows you to pair exchange rate history for up to 10 years.
www.xe.com
Here is a chart of the Ruble against the dollar, odd that the dollar continues to increase in value. Now add in the fact all the crazy things Russia had to do to try to keep the value of the Ruble up - increasing interest rates to 20%, putting in the strictest of rules for those wishing to transfer rubles to another currency. This isn't a free market. It is a controlled market, and its why no large financial institution will ever go in head over heels into the ruble or for that matter the yuan.