Alexander and others have been working on the claims made so far. New York Times and time Both published reports on March 7 claiming that a Ukrainian group was behind the sabotage. (Ukraine has denied any involvement.) time More details were released, claiming that German investigators searched a yacht chartered from a Polish company, knew its origins, and that six people, including two divers, were involved in the operation. They all used forged passports, the publication reported.
These details were enough for OSINT researchers to start tracking yachts that might have been used. Alexander, along with contributors to the open-source investigative site Bellingcat, began following the breadcrumbs, narrowing down the potential ships.A follow-up report quickly listed the ship as suspicious Andromeda, a 15-meter yacht.Webcam footage from the port believe Andromeda dock Displays the movement of the ship around the time reported in the publication. (this Andromeda It was reportedly too small to use a ship-tracking system. ) years of video and photos The boat has surfaced. Scouting adds public details to the report.
Likewise, OSINT has been used to debunk Hersh’s claim that the United States was behind the bombing. (Hersh defended his article, which U.S. officials said was false.) Among other things, Alexander used ship-tracking data to show that the Norwegian ship was “found” rather than “in a position where explosives could be placed ” Hersh claimed the Nord Stream pipeline. Another detailed article from a Norwegian journalist similarly cast cold water on Hersh’s claims, using in part satellite data.
Disruption is always likely to be controversial and surrounded by rumors: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 raised global tensions and put pressure on diplomats around the world. A whirlwind of disinformation has swirled around the blast, further muddying the waters. Mary Blankenship, a disinformation researcher at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas who has analyzed online conversations around the war, said the event’s “high degree of uncertainty and risk” fueled disinformation Spread.
“This is a question that plays on existing concerns, tensions and dissatisfaction among European audiences,” Blankenship said. Blankenship said the earliest disinformation on Twitter about the explosion came from conspiracy theorists who shared a pre-war statement from U.S. President Joe Biden in which he said Nord Stream 2 would “end” if Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, Russia and China have begun sharing unproven theories about the sabotage, the researchers said.
“Rumormongers are also official representatives [Russian] regime, stepped up its efforts to respond to every news report about the matter — no matter how contradictory the origin of the explosion — whether it was a Seymour Hersh blog post or New York Times article,” EU spokesman Peter Stano said, adding that most disinformation narratives revolved around the idea that “the US is to blame”. More than 150 pieces of disinformation related to the Nord Stream bombing, including those based on Hersh’s story.”EUvsDisinfo experts also found that Moscow considers recent material released by German-language media to be a hoax,” Stano said.
