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Comment by Reason077 | Hacker News Reader

It doesn't make sense that Russia would blow up their own pipeline. They can't blackmail Europe with gas if there's no pipeline to supply the gas.

And force majeure? That's pretty far-fetched. Why would Russia care about financial penalties? This is the country that effectively stole over 400 airliners by refusing to return them when the leases were terminated.

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One pipeline was not blown up and can carry 27.5 billion cubic meters per year. So it is still technically possible to send gas through that pipeline.

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/single-line-nord-str...

I explained why Russia would care. Because due to financial need Russia may want to come back to European energy markets where they are facing billions of dollars of contract penalties. They can stop shipments unilaterally, but they can’t do the same if they want to resume shipments.

> It doesn't make sense that Russia would blow up their own pipeline.

I disagree, but assuming this were true, that'd mean doing so would offer an opportunity to sow discord amongst the allied nations. Like cops telling a suspect "your buddy confessed already".

The clearest reasoning is this: the pipeline was closed and unused. A potential replacement of Putin could have gotten Western support by promising to quickly reopen the pipeline. If the pipeline is gone, no potential replacement can use the pipeline to gather Western support.

There doesn’t even need to be a physical person that exists right now in Russia to oppose Putin. Just the possibility of it might have been enough for Putin to blow his own goddamn jewel in the Baltic.

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