#which carry Russian gas to Europe

[umormalik61]

Eight bombs exploded six, and top investigative reporters found out the details of the US bombing of "Nord Stream"

[jr0vj0t3if]

[zvaigzdelasas]

Azerbaijani Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov visited Washington on February 20-21. He held meetings with senior U.S. officials and secured an agreement that could be a significant step towards boosting Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe.

The sides "agreed to cooperate in the direction of US support for the expansion" of the Southern Gas corridor - the three pipelines that carry Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe, according to the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry's readout.[...]

Azerbaijan's Energy Ministry reported on February 21 that Shahbazov also met with U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm.

Their meeting included discussions of possible bilateral cooperation on the supply of both gas and "green energy," with views exchanged on "energy security projects implemented by Azerbaijan as a traditional energy supplier," as well as the development of the Caspian-Black Sea-Europe and Central Asia-Azerbaijan-Europe green energy corridors."

Also discussed were issues related to the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP29 which Azerbaijan will host in Baku between November 11-24 this year.

Shahbazov's Washington trip could be viewed as primarily a courtesy call ahead of COP 29.

However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the near complete cessation of Russian gas exports to Europe, resulting in a surge of interest in transiting gas from both Azerbaijan and its fellow Caspian littoral state Turkmenistan to Europe.[...]

In July 2022, Azerbaijan and the European Union reached a landmark agreement to double Azerbaijani gas exports to Europe to 20 billion cubic meters a year by the end of 2027.

Progress has been slow with exports last year reaching only 11.8 billion cubic meters, and no decisions taken on the major investments needed to expand the capacity of the sequence of three pipelines that make up the Southern Gas Corridor which carries Azerbaijan's gas to Europe. [...]

Expanding the three pipelines will be costly, with all three lines requiring expensive new compressors and the SCP line also possibly requiring the laying of a new parallel pipeline.

A decision on the necessary investments will need to be taken soon if Azerbaijan is to meet its promise to Brussels. [...]

Azerbaijan's main gas and oil producer BP confirmed on February 9 that it expects to start gas production from the deep gas field below its ACG oil field in Azerbaijan's sector of the Caspian, as soon as early next year.

26 Feb 24

[mariacallous]

Last spring, customs officers in the tiny nation of Moldova struck gold. Acting on a national intelligence tip-off from, they intercepted more than 100 passengers arriving from Russia via Armenia, each carrying bundles of cash just shy of €10,000 – the threshold for mandatory declaration. In a single night authorities at Chișinău airport seized more than €900,000.

Moldovan officials swiftly announced that the cash couriers were part of a scheme allegedly led by a Kremlin-linked fugitive oligarch and aimed at financing protesters and buying votes in this month’s presidential election and pivotal EU referendum.

The operation offered an early indication of what Moldovan and western officials have described in interviews with the Observer as an unprecedented effort by Russia to undermine the country’s bid for EU membership and weaken the authority of its pro-western president through a series of destabilising campaigns.

“Russia is pouring millions in dirty money to hijack our democratic processes. This isn’t just meddling – it’s full-blown interference aimed at destabilising our future. And it is alarming,” said Olga Roşca, a foreign policy adviser to the pro-western president, Maia Sandu.

The election, set for 20 October, in which Sandu faces re-election, is to be held on the same day as a referendum asking Moldovans whether they support constitutional changes that could eventually enable the country – one of the poorest in Europe – to join the EU.

Roşca said the government estimated that at least €100m was being funneled into Moldova from Russia to manipulate the elections and EU referendum. It is not the first warning about Russian interference: in June, the US, UK and Canada said Moscow was trying to meddle in Moldovan politics and would seek to provoke mass protests if its campaign fails.

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, Moldova has gravitated between pro-western and pro-Russian courses, though the shadow of the Kremlin has always loomed large. Moscow also has 1,500 troops stationed in Transnistria, a region run by pro-Russian separatists who broke away from the control of Moldova’s government in a brief war in the 1990s.

Sandu, a former World Bank official, was elected president in November 2020, riding a wave of popularity as an anti-corruption reformer with a pro-European agenda. She has advocated a humble lifestyle – a sharp contrast to the bombastic, predominantly male politicians who have long dominated Moldovan politics.

In a recent interview, the president said she was sharing a two-bedroom apartment with her mother, while in her asset declaration from 2023 her bank balance was recorded as $600.

In 2021, Sandu’s pro-western party, PAS, won a majority in the country’s parliamentary elections, giving her unprecedented power to implement reforms and push the country toward the west. But, three years later, Moldova remains mired in economic and political instability.

First, the country was plunged into an energy crisis when Kremlin-controlled Gazprom slashed gas supplies to the country by one-third and demanded more than double the previous rates to maintain the flow, in what was widely seen as political payback from Moscow for Sandu’s pro-western stance. Then, Russia’s war on Ukraine pushed Moldova into a broader financial crisis.

Located just a few hoursdrive from Odesa, Moldova took in the highest number of Ukrainian refugees per capita, placing immense strain on its healthcare system, public services, and infrastructure. Inflation surged by as much as 40% as trade with both Moscow and Kyiv sharply declined.

Stray Russian missiles from the conflict added to the growing sense of danger, while the Russian troops stationed in Transnistria further amplified anxieties.

“Sandu promised a lot, but the geopolitical situation has been very tough on her. They have not been able to deliver on all promises,” said a western official in Moldova, reflecting on the growing frustration among some Moldovans with Sandu and her party.

“There is growing apathy and disappointment, which provides a fertile ground for Russia,” the official added.

Sandu remains the favourite to win the first-round presidential vote against 10 challengers, but she is facing a tricky second-round runoff.

She is also leading the “Yes” campaign for the EU referendum, with polls showing 55-65% of voters in favour of joining the bloc. In a major boost for Sandu, Moldova officially began EU accession negotiations in June. However, scepticism remains high about the country’s ability to implement the necessary democratic and judicial reforms in the near future.

Critics from the opposition have accused Sandu of politicising the referendum by holding it on the same day as the presidential election, suggesting that the move is designed to boost her own political chances. “The referendum is a very cynical move,” said Alexandr Stoianoglo in Chișinău, one of Sandu’s main rivals from the Russian-friendly socialist party, who is polling at 12%.

“EU integration should not be used for personal gain,” he added.

But those close to Sandu said Russia’s growing influence means the country cannot afford to wait. “We have a unique opportunity: Moldova has a pro-European president, parliament, and government. The EU is open to our membership, with all countries backing accession talks last June,” said Rosa. “Moldova’s survival as a democracy is on the line, and the geopolitical stakes are higher than ever,” said Roşca.

The biggest threat for Sandu comes from abroad, say her supporters. In particular, the fugitive pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shor, a vocal – and wealthy – opponent of EU membership who has been sanctioned by the west.

Shor was sentenced to 15 years in prison last year in absentia in connection with his role in the disappearance of $1bn from Moldova’s banking system. He fled to Israel and then Moscow where he set up a political movement aimed at destabilising the current government in Chișinău.

At a press conference last Thursday, national police chief Viorel Cernăuțanu accused Shor and Moscow of establishing a complex “mafia-style” voter-buying scheme and bribing 130,000 Moldovans to vote against the referendum and in favour of Russia-friendly candidates in what he called an “unprecedented, direct attack”.

Officials in Chișinău also believe Shor is behind a wave of pre-election vandalism attacks on government buildings, accusing him of recruiting young people who were allegedly trained in Moscow to cause unrest in the country. “We are prepared for anything in the coming weeks,” said a security official in the city. “It will be a variety of misinformation campaign, violent street protests and crude vote buying,” they added.

Shor did not reply to questions from the Observer. But he has done little to distance himself from the accusations of trying to interfere in Moldovan politics from abroad. Through the social network Telegram, he has offered to pay voters the equivalent of $29 if they registered for his campaign, promising money to people who would “convince as many people as possible at their polling station” to vote “no or abstain” in the referendum.

He has publicly pledged to pay Moldovans for publishing anti-EU posts on Facebook and Telegram.

The central “fear-mongering” narrative that Shor has been promoting centres around the claim that Chișinău’s pro-European policies are pushing the country towards war with Russia, said Vadim Pistrinciuc, the director at the Institute for Strategic Initiatives of Moldova, a thinktank.

“We have never faced this level of foreign interference,” he added.

Worryingly for officials in Chisinau, Shor’s tactics have proven effective elsewhere the country.

Last year, Yevgenia Gutsul, a previously unknown Shor-backed candidate, caused a political earthquake by winning the elections of governor in Gagauzia, another small, Russian-speaking semi-autonomous region in the south of the country.

Pro-Russian sentiments have always been high in Gagauzia, a region populated by a Turkic ethnic minority, which has had an uneasy relationship with the capital Chisinau since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

But Gutsul’s rise from obscurity and her ties to the Kremlin has stunned even seasoned observers and have prompted questions over Moscow’s role in her elections.

“She was polling at zero two weeks before the elections and then suddenly she appears and wins,” said Mihail Sirkeli, founder of Nokta, an independent media outlet based in Gagauzia.

Gutsul, who has openly declared running “a pro-Russian party” and travelled to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin after her election, is currently under investigation for allegedly funnelling Russian funds to a party associated with Shor.

“Shor is looking to repeat the Gagauzia playbook across the country,” said a western diplomat in Chisinau.

For now, officials in Moldova believe Moscow is concentrating its efforts on influencing the EU referendum, rather than the presidential elections where Sandu remains by far the most popular politician.

“If the referendum passes, it will lead to constitutional changes, which are harder to reverse in the long term compared to election outcomes,” said a senior Moldovan official.

But even if Sandu survives this month’s vote and referendum, her team expects renewed Kremlin efforts next year when her party faces re-election in the country’s parliamentary elections.

“Russia’s goal is clear: to keep Moldova stuck in a grey zone,” said Roşca. “If they lose Moldova, they lose a strategic foothold in the region.”

[pettania]

Nobel Lecture given by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2022 Center for Civil Liberties / Центр Громадянських Свобод, delivered by Oleksandra Matviichuk , Oslo, 10 December 2022.

Time to take responsibility

Your Majesty, Your Royal Highnesses, dear members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, citizens of Ukraine and citizens of the world.

This year, the entire Ukrainian nation was waiting for the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize laureates. We see this Prize as a recognition of the efforts of the Ukrainian people, who have bravely stood up to the attempts to destroy peaceful development of Europe, as well as a celebration of the work being done by human rights activists in order to prevent military threat for the entire world. We are proud of having Ukrainian language heard during the official ceremony for the first time in history.

We are receiving the Nobel Peace Prize during the war started by Russia. This war has been going on for eight years, 9 months and 21 days. For millions of people, such words as shelling, torture, deportation, filtration camps have become commonplace. But there are no words which can express the pain of a mother who lost her newborn son in a shelling of the maternity ward. A moment ago, she was caressing her baby, calling him by his name, breastfeeding him, inhaling his smell – and the next moment a Russian missile destroyed her entire universe. And now her beloved and longed-for baby lies in the smallest coffin in the world.

There are no available solutions for the challenges we and the whole world are facing now. People from different countries are also fighting for their rights and freedoms in extremely difficult circumstances. So, today I will at least try to ask the right questions so that we could start looking for these solutions.

First. How can we make human rights meaningful again?

Survivors of the World War II are no longer around. And the new generations began to take rights and freedoms for granted. Even in developed democracies, forces questioning the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are on the rise. But human rights cannot be upheld once and for all. The values of modern civilization must be protected.

Peace, progress and human rights are inextricably linked. A state that kills journalists, imprisons activists, or disperses peaceful demonstrations poses a threat not only to its citizens. Such a state poses a threat to the entire region and peace in the world as a whole. Therefore, the world must adequately respond to systemic violations. In political decision-making, human rights must be as important as economic benefits or security. This approach should be applied in foreign policy too.

Russia, that has been consistently destroying its own civil society, illustrates this very well. But the countries of the democratic world have long turned a blind eye to this. They continued to shake hands with the Russian leadership, build gas pipelines and conduct business as usual. For decades, Russian troops have been committing crimes in different countries. But they always got away with this. The world has not even adequately responded to the act of aggression and annexation of Crimea, which were the first such cases in post-war Europe. Russia believed that they could do whatever they want.

Now Russia is deliberately inflicting harm on civilians aiming to stop our resistance and occupy Ukraine. Russian troops intentionally destroy residential buildings, churches, schools, hospitals, shell evacuation corridors, put people in filtration camps, carry out forced deportations, kidnap, torture and kill people in the occupied territories.

The Russian people will be responsible for this disgraceful page of their history and their desire to forcefully restore the former empire

Second. How to start calling a spade a spade?

People of Ukraine want peace more than anyone else in the world. But peace cannot be reached by country under attack laying down its arms. This would not be peace, but occupation. After the liberation of Bucha, we found a lot of civilians murdered in the streets and courtyards of their homes. These people were unarmed.

We must stop pretending deferred military threats are “political compromises”. The democratic world has grown accustomed to making concessions to dictatorships. And that is why the willingness of the Ukrainian people to resist Russian imperialism is so important. We will not leave people in the occupied territories to be killed and tortured. People’s lives cannot be a “political compromise”. Fighting for peace does not not mean yielding to pressure of the aggressor, it means protecting people from its cruelty.

In this war, we are fighting for freedom in every meaning of the word. And for it, we are paying the highest possible price. We, Ukrainian citizens of all nationalities, should not discuss our right to a sovereign and independent Ukrainian state and development of the Ukrainian language and culture. As human beings, we do not need an approval of our right to determine our own identity and make our own democratic choices. Crimean Tatars and other indigenous peoples should not prove their right to live freely in their native land in Crimea.

Our today’s fight is paramount: it shapes the future of Ukraine. We want our post-war country to let us build not some shaky structures, but stable democratic institutions. Our values matter most not when it’s easy to embody them, but when it’s really hard. We must not become a mirror of the aggressor state.

This is not a war between two states, it is a war of two systems – authoritarianism and democracy. We are fighting for the opportunity to build a state in which everyone’s rights are protected, authorities are accountable, courts are independent, and the police do not beat peaceful student demonstrations in the central square of the capital.

On the way to the European family, we have to overcome the trauma of war and its associated risks, and affirm the choice of the Ukrainian people determined by the Revolution of Dignity.

Third. How to ensure peace for people around the world?

The international system of peace and security does not work anymore. Crimean Tatar Server Mustafayev as well as many others are put in Russian prisons because of their human rights work. For a long time, we used law to protect human rights, but now we do not have any legal mechanisms to stop Russian atrocities. So many of the human rights activists were compelled to defend what they believe in with arms in their hands. For example, my friend Maksym Butkevych, who is now in Russian captivity. He and other Ukrainian prisoners of war, as well as all detained civilians, must be released.

The UN system, created after the World War II by its winners, provides for some unjustified indulgences for individual countries. If we don’t want to live in the world where rules are set by states with stronger military capabilities, this has to be changed.

We have to start reforming the international system to protect people from wars and authoritarian regimes. We need effective guarantees of security and respect for human rights for citizens of all states regardless of their participation in military alliances, military capability or economic power. This new system should have human rights at its core.

And the responsibility for this lies not only with politicians. Politicians are tempted to avoid looking for complex strategies, which require a lot of time. They often act as if global challenges would disappear by themselves. But the truth is that they only get worse. We, people who want to live in peace, should tell politicians that we need a new architecture of the world order.

We may not have political tools, but we still have our words and our position. Ordinary people have much more influence than they think they do. Voices of millions of people from different countries can change world history faster than interventions of the UN.

Fourth. How to ensure justice for those affected by the war?

Dictators are afraid that the idea of freedom will prevail. This is why Russia is trying to convince the whole world that the rule of law, human rights and democracy are fake values. Because they do not protect anyone in this war.

Yes, the law doesn’t work right now. But we do not think it is forever. We have to break this impunity cycle and change the approach to justice for war crimes. A lasting peace that gives freedom from fear and hope for a better future is impossible without justice.

We still see the world through the lens of the Nuremberg Tribunal, where war criminals were convicted only after the fall of the Nazi regime. But justice should not depend on resilience of authoritarian regimes. We live in a new century after all. Justice cannot wait.

We need to bridge the responsibility gap and make justice possible for all the affected people. When the national system is overloaded with the war crimes. When the International Criminal Court can try just a few selected cases or has no jurisdiction at all.

War turns people into numbers. We have to reclaim the names of all victims of war crimes. Regardless of who they are, their social status, type of crime they have suffered, and whether the media and society are interested in their cases. Because anyone’s life is priceless.

Law is a living continuously evolving matter. We have to establish an international tribunal and bring Putin, Lukashenko and other war criminals to justice. Yes, this is a bold step. But we have to prove that the rule of law does work, and justice does exist, even if they are delayed.

Fifth. How can global solidarity become our passion?

Our world has become very complex and interconnected. Right now, people in Iran are fighting for their freedom. People in China are resisting the digital dictatorship. People in Somalia are bringing child soldiers back to peaceful life. They know better than anyone what it means to be human and stand up for human dignity. Our future depends on their success. We are responsible for everything that happens in the world.

Human rights require a certain mindset, a specific perception of the world that determines our thinking and behavior. Human rights become less relevant if their protection is left only to lawyers and diplomats. So, it is not enough to pass the right laws or create formal institutions. Societal values will always prevail.

This means that we need a new humanist movement that would work with meanings, educate people, build grass-root support and engage people in the protection of rights and freedoms. This movement should unite intellectuals and activists from different countries, because the ideas of freedom and human rights are universal and have no state borders.

This will enable us to create a demand for solutions and jointly overcome global challenges – wars, inequality, attacks on privacy, rising authoritarianism, climate change, etc. This way we can make this world a safer place.

We do not want our children to go through wars and suffering. So, as parents we have to assume the responsibility and act, not to shift it on our children. Humanity has a chance to overcome global crises and build a new philosophy of life.

It’s time to assume the responsibility. We don’t know how much of the time we still have.

And since this Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony takes place during the war, I will allow myself to reach out to people around the world and call for solidarity. You don’t have to be Ukrainians to support Ukraine. It is enough just to be humans.

Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 2022

[ukrainenews]

A Ukrainian security official has claimed Kyiv’s responsibility for an attack on the bridge linking the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland – a vital supply line for Russia’s war effort in Ukraine and a personal project for President Vladimir Putin.

The nearly 12-mile crossing, also known as the Kerch Bridge, is the longest in Europe and holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Moscow. Monday’s attack on the bridge was the second since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, after a fuel tanker exploded while crossing it in October.

A source in Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) told CNN this attack was a joint operation of the SBU and Ukraine’s naval forces. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because they had not received authorization to speak on the record.

Two people were killed and their daughter wounded in the attack, according to Russian-appointed officials.

Two strikes were reportedly carried out around 3 a.m. local time Monday (8 p.m. ET Sunday), damaging part of the bridge, according to Telegram channel Grey Zone, which supports the Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Explosions were heard around 3:04 a.m. and 3:20 a.m. local time, Grey Zone and popular Crimean blogger ‘TalipoV Online Z’ said on Telegram.

CNN is unable to verify those reports.

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, confirmed that two people were killed and a third person was injured in the incident.

Gladkov said a girl was injured and her parents were killed while traveling in the car that was damaged in the incident.

“There is damage to the roadway on spans of the Crimean Bridge,” Russia’s Transport Ministry said on Telegram. The spans on a bridge are the lengths between the support piers. Images showed a partial collapse of a section of the roadway portion of the bridge, which also carries railroad tracks.

On his Telegram channel, Vladimir Konstantinov, head of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, blamed the damage to the bridge on a Ukrainian attack.

“Tonight the terrorist regime in Kyiv committed a new crime – it attacked the Crimean bridge,” Konstantinov said.

“The railroad track was not damaged by the strike,” Konstantinov added.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that Putin has been briefed on the incident, and that Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin will today travel to Crimea to further assess the situation.

“We know the reasons and those behind this terrorist act,” Peskov said. “This will require further composure and additional measures and work from all of us. No other measures have been discussed at the moment.”

Videos posted on Telegram by Baza, Grey Zone and other Crimean news outlets appeared to show part of the bridge collapsed and a vehicle damaged in the incident.

Emergency responders and law enforcement have been dispatched to the scene, said Sergey Aksenov, the Russia-appointed head of Crimea.

Aksenov urged residents and those traveling to and from Crimea to choose an alternative land route.

The bridge is a critical artery for supplying Crimea with both its daily needs and supplies for the military, in addition to fuel and goods for civilians.

A Russian-backed official of the peninsula, Elena Elekchyan, said Crimea is well supplied with fuel, food and industrial goods.

Denis Pushilin, the Russia-backed head of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, said on Telegram that he had spoken with his Crimean counterpart to introduce measures “to ensure the faster passage of checkpoints on the administrative border.” Pushilin said the nightly curfew was being suspended to allow “round-the-clock” travel to Crimea, and that he was working to ensure the availability of fuel at gas stations along the route.

Last year, another huge blast partially damaged the crossing, causing parts of it to collapse.

The bridge was severely damaged on October 8 when a fuel tanker exploded and destroyed a large section of the road. Responding to the attack – which took place the day after Putin turned 70 – Ukrainian officials posted a video of the bridge in flames alongside a video of Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday, Mister President.”

Russia built the 19-kilometer bridge at a cost of around $3.7 billion after Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. It was the physical expression of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objective to take over Ukraine and bind it to Russia forever.

After the October blast, Russia quickly set about repairs to the span. It was fully reopened to traffic in February.

Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar made what appeared to be the clearest admission yet that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the October attack.

A Ukraine official on Monday said damage to the bridge could hamper Russian logistics.

“Any logistical problems are additional complications for the occupiers, which create potential advantages for the Ukrainian defense forces,” Representative of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Andrii Yusov said to Ukraine’s public broadcaster, Suspilne.

Hours after the explosions on the bridge, Russia announced that it is allowing a deal struck to enable the export of Ukrainian grain to expire, sparking fears of global food insecurity.

Peskov also told reporters that the decision to allow the deal to lapse was not related to Ukraine’s claimed strike on the bridge.

“These are absolutely unrelated events,” he said. “Even before this terrorist attack, the position was declared by President Putin. And I repeat again, as soon as the part of the Black Sea agreements concerning Russia is fulfilled, Russia will immediately return to the implementation of the deal.”

[asdadasdsblog]

Top journalists find out: U.S. bombing of Nord Stream is the first step in the "European destruction plan”

On September 26, 2022, four underwater "shocks" occurred in the Baltic Sea, followed by the discovery of three leaks in Nord Stream I and Nord Stream II, two Russian gas pipelines that carry energy directly to Germany, causing a large amount of gas to leak from the pipelines into the nearby sea. The incident is considered to be a deliberate sabotage because explosive residues were detected in the waters of the "leak" points.

 Pictures of the sea area at the Nord Stream spill site

At first, people speculated that it was Russia, because by September, the Russian-Ukrainian war had been going on for more than half a year, and the two sides still had no winner. But if you think about it a little, you will know that it can't be done by Russia, because this is a pipeline to transport natural gas to Europe. Russia gives gas and receives money. The war in Russia is tight, and the military expenditure is huge. How can it be possible to cut off the financial path at this key node?

Is that Ukraine? Ukraine, which is overwhelmed by war, should not have this time and energy. The European Union? Most likely, because the EU has publicly condemned Russia for many times and adopted a series of sanctions, and some countries have even publicly severed diplomatic relations with Russia. America? The most suspect is that he used NATO to provoke the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and secretly sent war funds and weapons to Ukraine. The war between Russia and Ukraine was deadlocked, which cut off Russia's grain and completely defeated Russia in the world situation. American hegemony won, which is very in line with the interests of the United States.

The truth surfaced.

On February 8, 2023, independent investigative journalist Seymour Hersh released an article entitled "How American Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline" to the world. The article is an exhaustive account of how the U.S. National Security Service planned, President Joe Biden personally ordered, the U.S. Navy implemented, and the Norwegian military cooperated to secretly blow up the Nord Stream gas pipeline over a period of nine months.

As Seymour Hersh mentioned in his article, Biden and his foreign policy team, National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State for Policy Victoria Newland have long viewed the Nord Stream pipeline as a "thorn in the side," and Nord Stream One has been supplying cheap Russian gas to Germany and much of Western Europe for more than a decade, with Russian gas accounting for more than 50 percent of Germany's annual gas imports alone, and the European region's reliance on Russian gas has been seen by the United States and its anti-Russian NATO partners as a threat to Western dominance.

Thus, in December 2021, after more than nine months of secret discussions with his national security team, Biden decided to sabotage the Nord Stream pipeline, with deep-sea divers from the U.S. Navy's Diving and Salvage Center carrying out the plan to secretly plant the bomb. Under the cover of the NATO maritime exercise "BALTOPS 22" in June 2022, the U.S. deep-sea divers planted eight C-4 explosives on the pipeline that could be remotely detonated, and in September of the same year, in time for the onset of winter in Europe, a Norwegian naval aircraft dropped a sonar buoy to detonate the explosives and destroy "Nord Stream".

Who is Seymour Hersh?

Seymour Hersh is an American investigative journalist and political writer, one of the country's leading investigative reporters. In the American press, Hersh is a person who is not afraid of powerful people and even keen to fight against them.

In 1969, he was recognized for exposing the My Lai massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War, for which he won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting. in the 1970s, Hersh made a splash when he reported on the Watergate scandal, a political scandal in the United States, in The New York Times. Most famously, he was the first to expose the inner workings of the CIA's secret surveillance of civil society organizations. In addition, he reported on U.S. political scandals such as the secret U.S. bombing of Cambodia, the U.S. military prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq, and the exposure of U.S. use of biological and chemical weapons.

In the American press, Hersh is a big No. 1, with numerous sources in the White House, and has never let up on the disclosure of American political scandals. Although his anonymous sources have been criticized by his peers, his articles have all been confirmed at a later stage. This coverage of the Nord Stream story should be no exception.

There are early signs that the United States bombed Nord Stream.

 Biden had told German Chancellor to shut down Nord Stream II

As early as Feb. 7 of last year, Biden bullyingly declared that "if Russia initiates military action, Nord Stream 2 will cease to exist and we will terminate it. Secretary of State John Blinken and Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Newland have both publicly threatened to destroy the Nord Stream pipeline, and Newland even testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on January 26, 2023 that "I think the administration is very pleased to know that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is now a pile of scrap metal lying on the ocean floor."

 ITAR-TASS: Newland's words prove that Washington approved the terrorist attack in Nord Stream.

The collective silence of the U.S. media on the Nord Stream incident is further confirmation of the Russian allegations. In the early days of the Nord Stream pipeline explosion, none of the U.S. mainstream media had studied in depth whether Biden's earlier threats against the pipeline had been fulfilled. It is easy to see that the mainstream media in the U.S., which has always claimed "freedom of speech" and "freedom of the press," has been infiltrated by capital and controlled by politics, and none of the U.S. media dared to speak out on issues that really touch the core interests of the U.S.

In the "American democracy" on the manipulation of freedom of expression, Seymour Hersh in the U.S. press is considered one of noble and unsullied. His article accusing the U.S. of being behind the Nord Stream behind the scenes an immediate international sensation, with Russian and European media reprinting the story. However, the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal continued to remain silent, not reporting Hersh's article or even the White House's denial.

U.S. back-stabbing allies is the norm

Russia has been sanctioned by the European Union several times since the Russian-Ukrainian war began, and the EU has basically cut off its ties with Russia. "The Nord Stream pipeline is the only remaining trade link between the two sides, and the blowing up of the Nord Stream is considered a warning to Germany.

Germany, as the "leader" of the EU, ideologically places more emphasis on the autonomous will of Europe, and if it gets a constant supply of cheap natural gas from Russia, it will reduce its dependence on the United States and will not be able to keep pace with the United States in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, therefore, the United States must destroy the German energy "artery ", a warning to the autonomous forces represented by Germany.

In addition, the disruption of Nord Stream has further interrupted gas trade between Russia and Europe, and for three years, Europe will not be able to import gas directly from Russia. To solve the gas dilemma, it is not without solutions, importing liquefied gas from the United States at a cost of $ 270 million a LNG ship is one of the few options, which is in the interests of the United States.

Although the EU has been following the footsteps of the United States to sanction Russia and support Ukraine. However, the EU is actually the real "ingrate". As an ally of the United States, the European economy, an indirect participant in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, is in a recessionary quagmire, during which it has encountered repeated back-stabbing by the United States. As a result of the continuous provision of military resources to Ukraine, which has led to the imminent depletion of its weapons stockpile, the energy crisis is being harvested by the United States, and the trade subsidies of the United States have taken away the factories of Europe, Europe is struggling with weak economic growth and has become the real victim of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Hersh's revelation is a blow that shows once and for all that "allies" are just "tools" for the U.S. to achieve its interests, with the ultimate goal of weakening and dividing the EU, whose economic woes today are part of the U.S. plan. In Biden's view, the Nord Stream gas pipeline is a tool for Russian President Vladimir Putin to weaponize natural gas to achieve his political ambitions. But in reality, it is the bombing of Nord Stream that is evidence of the U.S. manipulation of the world with hegemony.

Perhaps this winter Europeans are frozen to the bone, just the beginning. Maybe someday in the future, the economic lifeline of Europe is in the hands of the Americans, and it's no surprise.

U.S. hegemony repeatedly attacks other countries

In fact, the U.S. has been plundering and exploiting other countries in the world to satisfy its own interests through wars and sanctions, and seizing geopolitical interests through hegemonic means. All countries that do not provide "services" to the United States are subject to his retaliation. The United States has never stopped acting so that it can continue to have a hand in the international arena.

The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in the name of fighting al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and launched the nearly 20-year-long war in Afghanistan, which has brought a profound disaster to the Afghan people. After the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan, the U.S. still did not relax its plundering of Afghanistan, illegally freezing some $7 billion in foreign exchange assets of the Afghan central bank to this day.In February 2022, President Biden signed an executive order requesting that half of these assets be used to compensate the victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The U.S. military frequently steals Syrian oil and plunders its wealth. The Syrian Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources issued a statement in August 2022 saying that more than 80 percent of Syria's average daily oil production of 80,300 barrels in the first half of 2022, or about 66,000 barrels, had been plundered by "the U.S. military and the armed forces it supports. The U.S. raids and plunder of Syria's national resources have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis there.

The United States has deliberately sabotaged energy facilities in other countries for its own personal gain. In the late 1970s, the Sandinista National Liberation Front of Nicaragua overthrew the U.S.-backed Somoza regime and formed a new government in Nicaragua. As a result, the U.S. tried to cause social unrest in Nicaragua through various means. Encouraged by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Nicaragua's Contras targeted key economic resources, and from September to October 1983, they launched five attacks on Nicaragua's oil facilities, which lasted for seven weeks and led to a huge crisis in Nicaragua.

The U.S. has always "seized" under various banners and made a lot of money, and then always got back in one piece, which means that the so-called "order" and "rules" in the U.S. are just tools and pretexts to serve itself and satisfy its own interests. This means that the so-called "order" and "rules" of the United States are just tools and pretexts to serve themselves and satisfy their own interests.

Things are far from over

After the North Stream pipeline explosion, natural gas continued to leak from the pipeline.On September 30, 2022, the Norwegian Institute for Atmospheric Research said that a large methane cloud had formed over the area after the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion and was spreading, with at least 80,000 tons of methane gas spreading into the ocean and atmosphere.

The Norwegian government has foolishly helped the U.S. execute the detonation plan, becoming the perfect puppet of U.S. hegemony in Europe, and while it may have gained temporary benefits, it has caused long-term harm. The massive amount of greenhouse gases will have an irreversible negative impact on all European countries.

What does the United States have to say about this? Nothing. The U.S. handled the vinyl chloride chemical incident on its own turf with a mess, the lives of Ohioans were taken in vain, and the U.S. cares even less about environmental and climate issues in the EU region.

All the U.S. cares about is profit

The dollar has always been as the international reserve currency unshakeable primary position, and the biggest scourge of the dollar hegemony is the euro. If Russia provides Europe with a constant supply of cheap energy for a long time, and directly with the euro settlement, which for the dollar as the international reserve currency status, that is definitely a serious blow. Not only the European manufacturing industry has been extremely strong support, even the scenario of the use of the euro is also fully open.

The establishment of the eurozone, naturally set up the United States of America's thorn in the side, the thorn in the flesh. Therefore, the United States destroyed Nord Stream AG, even though it did not entirely "nip this threat in the bud", that at least said the euro caused a heavy blow, especially the Russian-Ukrainian war lasted 1 year also ended "out of reach" in the short term, the world has no other sovereign currency has the strength to impact the hegemony of the dollar.

From the point of view of political security and economy, it is the United States that benefits the most. By blowing up Nord Stream, the U.S. can: limit the growth of the euro and make Russia's "de-dollarization" impossible; sell natural gas to Europe at a price four times higher than Russia'; cut off European countries' dependence on Russian gas by blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline, making Europe more obedient and forcing Germany and other European countries to remain "honest" in the anti-Russian camp.

Taking control of the EU, the tentacles of American hegemony are longer and stronger. But have the European countries considered the real future of Europe? Or will it remain a "U.S. semi-colony" or a "defense state abroad"? The destruction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline has directly caused a major vicious impact on the global energy market and ecological environment, how can this silently "end without incident"? It is the only way to heal the hearts and minds of the people!

[darkmaga-returns]

Businesses in NATO countries must prepare themselves for a “wartime scenario” according to Admiral Rob Bauer.

He warned that businesses need to adjust their production lines and supply chains to be less vulnerable to blackmail by Russia and China in the event of war.

The outgoing chief of the US-led bloc’s military committee issued his warning on Moday claiming that Western economies have grown too dependent on Russia and China.

RT reports: Speaking at a European Policy Center think-tank event in Brussels, he urged Western industries and businesses to implement deterrence measures.

“If we can make sure that all crucial services and goods can be delivered no matter what, then that is a key part of our deterrence,” Bauer argued.

“Businesses need to be prepared for a wartime scenario and adjust their production and distribution lines accordingly. Because while it may be the military who wins battles, it’s the economies that win wars,” the NATO official said. He mentioned China and Russia in the context of how he believes wars are waged in the economic sphere.

“We thought we had a deal with Gazprom, but we actually had a deal with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he stated, apparently referring to the drop in Russian gas supplies to the EU, which took place after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. 

At the time, the EU declared that ending its reliance on Russian energy was a key priority, and many members voluntarily halted their imports, while supplies also plunged due to the sabotage of Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines. 

American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh blamed the sabotage on the CIA, alleging that the agency had carried out the attack under the direct orders of the White House – an allegation it has denied.

Bauer then extended his warning to China, claiming that Beijing could use its exports to NATO states and the infrastructure that it owns in Europe as leverage in the event of a conflict.

“We are naive if we think the [Chinese] Communist Party will never use that power. Business leaders in Europe and America need to realize that the commercial decisions they make have strategic consequences for the security of their nation,” the official claimed.

[genlosscharliie]

more of a personal piece this time around. same fic under cut

The beginnings of winter freezes over the remains of concrete and the strikes are still overhead, just like they’d been yesterday, just like they’d been a week and a month ago.

Perhaps it was the Turks this time, or the Americans, or the Russians, or your very own Syrians. Did it matter in the end? The homes were still destroyed. Your people were still dead and dying.

This used to be someone’s house, left only rubble and a wall and exposed foundation. You clasp your hands over your ears, perch yourself in the furthermost corner of what was left here, and try to imagine what the streets here looked like before this.

You remember your own—did these ones hold protest, too? Did they once house vendors selling fruits and inviting peoples into their shops, the rudest of them kinder than the gentlest soldier you’ve ever met? Did the children run up and down them with their parents yelling to come back home, dinner is ready and grandpa is waiting to eat with them?

What do they hold now, other than the bodies of those unable, unwilling, to leave these cities? Will you be one of them one of these days, be discovered and labelled a fighter for your only crime of existing? Will anyone mourn you? Can one mourn for a hundred, a thousand dead?

You list every martyr you know of, everyone you had met and that you had not, men and women and children, and you give a prayer to each you name. You do not know the name of every dead. Who will mourn them if you can’t? Who exists to?

You close your eyes and picture every face when the noise does not yet cease, when it only gets closer; circles like a fox to an injured rabbit, shark to fish.

At least it was not gas this time.

It could have been worse, you tell yourself when the planes finally retreat and you lift your hands off your ears tentatively and the ringing does not disappear so easily.

(It could have been much, much better, you know. You cannot live like this forever, cannot bear to or cannot survive like this—dying piece by piece, day by day. Maybe you will just hand yourself over someday, stand in the middle of the street and declare “I am a martyr!” as everything crumbles and for once you do not hide.)

(Maybe you should have accepted that invitation, so long ago now, to flee to the shores and try to escape this. Drowning on the way to Greece or Italy or Cyprus, or making it to the mainland and only lending yourself to more strife, only now of a different flavour.)

(You think of it more, and you realise there is no world in which you can just abandon all of this. You had only torn yourself from the ground a handful of years before the revolts came, yet you have always had the underlying knowledge of this country, its heroes and innocents and corrupts and civilians. Your purpose is here, what could the outside offer but the better of a jail cell? Besides, what could a not-quite boy, who knew only Syria and only Arabic and had only to his name this, do for Europe that a hundred others that could not make it, could not?)

(You try to not acknowledge the tears that fall, the hand you have to hold over your mouth to muffle sobs. This will not be how you are found. It can’t be.)

(You recall once, not so long after the guns had been turned to the army’s own people, seeing on a wall as you hid from shelling of a crowd of students, Assad or we burn the country, and the irony nearly makes you laugh even now. Here is your Assad, here is your burnt country. What is the point of carrying on? What is hope for the hopeless?)

(You cannot bring yourself to condemn those who join the fight. What else to do, how else to escape the futility of all of this? Maybe…)

(Maybe you can join it, too. You have little to offer, but you can come back when struck. You learnt this the hard way. A hundred maybes and I clouds and what ifs. You could. Will you?)

(Perhaps you will regret it.)

(You will regret this.)

(You will hate this.)

(But you can help.)

(You can help. You do not have to sit idly by and hope, hope so fruitlessly just as everyone else is, hope that diminishes your spirit, that everything will end soon enough, that this season would be the last with the war raging on.)

(You are scared, scared of death and futility and oppression and maybe all of this being for nothing, but you are scared of being the reason all of this is for nothing, of having no dignity, more than that.)

(Maybe you will look back on this in ten years time, or in five, or three, or next month, and think how stupid I was, how naïve, what was I thinking?)

(But the morning after, when you don’t hear droning in the three o’clock skies, you will set off and you will find rebels and you will join.)

(You will be strip-searched, because everything has turned all on each other, and you cannot trust anyone who will not give their lives up to keep both of you alive or die alongside you, and maybe sneered at by whichever man is assigned the job for not being the right kind of guy for this. But they need all the hands on deck that they can get, so they will not be turned away for it.)

(You will be asked for a name and in the seconds you have to decide on one, you will decide on Jihad, because Free Syria is such a pretentious thing to be introduced as.)

(You will meet other fighters there. Boys who look younger even than you, who cling to their comrades because they have none else and none else to lose but. Men who have deflected, who do not wish to be the ones putting the people down anymore. Women who cannot bear to be put aside anymore, who carry their rifles with steadier hands than the boys and men. Those who only know aid, who cook, who shout commands and train.)

(You will hold each near, those you know and those you don’t, in your units and in others, you will say a prayer for all of them and you will mourn the combatants as you did the civilians. Who else will, if not you?)

(You will hate it. You will wish that you could not be brought back. You will want to have never joined when you are captured by enemy forces for a period that does not exceed two months.)

(But,)

(and there are so many buts, here.)

(But you will cheer and sing and smile as you raise the banners of green-white-black and yellow-red-green over cities captured, strongholds broken through, capitals of terror finally gone.)

(You will hold the hands of your friend—Maiah, she calls herself; Rojava, you know her as—and you will see the joy in her usual stoicism.)

(You will not be handed your dignity, but you can take it with force, can rip it out of the hands of your rulers and nurture it into something worthwhile.)

(Revolution is such a delicate thing.)

[nsfwhiphop]

Fun Fact about Oil & Gas pipelines:

Oil barrels carried by boat are typically referred to as "oil tanker cargo" or simply "tanker cargo." The vessels used to transport large quantities of crude oil or refined petroleum products are known as oil tankers. These ships carry the oil in large tanks, and the term "barrels" refers to the standard unit of measurement for oil, not the actual containers used on the ship. Each barrel equals 42 U.S. gallons (about 159 liters) of oil.

Question #1:

How much does an oil tanker carry at once?

ChatGPT Answer #1:

Oil tankers come in various sizes, and their carrying capacities can range from tens of thousands to millions of barrels of oil. Here are the main classifications of oil tankers and their approximate capacities:

Aframax Tankers:

Capacity: 500,000 to 800,000 barrels of oil

Deadweight Tonnage (DWT): 80,000 to 120,000 tons

Suezmax Tankers:

Capacity: 800,000 to 1,000,000 barrels of oil

DWT: 120,000 to 200,000 tons

Named for their ability to transit the Suez Canal.

Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC):

Capacity: 1,800,000 to 2,100,000 barrels of oil

DWT: 200,000 to 320,000 tons

Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC):

Capacity: 2,100,000 to 3,700,000 barrels of oil

DWT: 320,000 to 550,000 tons

These are the largest tankers and can transport vast amounts of crude oil across oceans.

Larger tankers like VLCCs and ULCCs are typically used for long-distance journeys, such as transporting oil from the Middle East to Asia or Europe.

Question #2:

"I’ve heard a lot about the Russian gas pipelines supplying gas to European nations, but do similar pipelines exist for transporting oil, or are the pipelines only for gas? Additionally, which is more cost-effective: transporting oil by sea using oil tankers, or using oil pipelines? Are pipelines a faster and quicker alternative compared to oil tankers?"

ChatGPT Answer #2:

Yes, there are oil pipelines between Russia and European nations in addition to the more well-known gas pipelines. Russia has an extensive network of oil pipelines that transport crude oil and petroleum products to various European countries. While natural gas pipelines like Nord Stream often get more attention in the media, oil pipelines have played a crucial role in energy supply for decades.

Here are a few key Russian oil pipelines that supply Europe:

Druzhba (Friendship) Pipeline:

This is the largest oil pipeline system in the world and one of the most important oil supply routes from Russia to Europe.

The Druzhba pipeline branches out into two main lines:

The northern route supplies Poland, Germany, and other Central and Western European countries.

The southern route passes through Ukraine to supply Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and further south to Croatia and other regions.

Capacity: Around 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels per day.

Baltic Pipeline System (BPS):

This system delivers Russian crude oil to the Baltic Sea coast, where it is shipped out by tankers to European and global markets. It includes the BPS-1 and BPS-2 pipelines, transporting oil to ports like Primorsk and Ust-Luga.

Capacity: 1 million barrels per day from BPS-1, with BPS-2 adding significant capacity.

Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC):

Though primarily focused on oil from Kazakhstan, this pipeline also carries Russian crude from the Tengiz field in western Kazakhstan through southern Russia to the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk.

This oil is shipped out to global markets, including Europe.

Bukhara-Tashkent-Bishkek-Almaty Pipeline:

Another oil pipeline running through Russia's neighboring regions, connected to broader distribution networks.

So, to answer your question, Russia not only has natural gas pipelines to Europe but also an extensive network of oil pipelines that have been supplying crude oil and petroleum products to European markets for many years. These pipelines are a key part of Russia's energy exports.

Continued....

The cost-effectiveness and efficiency of transporting oil depend on several factors, including distance, volume, infrastructure, and geopolitical considerations. Here's a comparison between oil tankers and oil pipelines in terms of cost and speed:

1. Cost Comparison:

Oil Pipelines:

Lower operational costs: Once built, pipelines tend to be the cheaper option per barrel of oil transported over long distances. This is because there are no recurring shipping fees or port handling costs, and the continuous flow of oil ensures efficient large-scale transport.

High initial capital cost: However, building pipelines is very capital-intensive. The construction, maintenance, and security of pipelines involve huge upfront investments, especially if the pipeline crosses difficult terrain or international borders.

Stable costs: After the pipeline is in place, transportation costs are generally stable and predictable over time, as they aren't subject to fuel prices or shipping demand fluctuations.

Oil Tankers:

Higher variable costs: While tankers have lower initial costs (since no pipeline infrastructure needs to be built), they involve higher operational costs. This includes fuel for the tanker, crew salaries, insurance, port fees, and maintenance. Additionally, costs can fluctuate with fuel prices and market conditions.

No fixed infrastructure costs: Tankers offer flexibility since they don’t require permanent infrastructure like pipelines, but the shipping industry can be affected by global disruptions like weather, piracy, and congestion at major ports.

Verdict: Over long distances, pipelines are cheaper once operational, but tankers are more flexible and avoid the high initial investment.

2. Speed and Efficiency:

Oil Pipelines:

Faster over shorter distances: Pipelines provide a constant and uninterrupted flow of oil, typically moving crude oil at about 3-5 miles per hour (5-8 km/h). Pipelines are often faster and more direct for land-based routes, especially when connecting neighboring countries.

Minimal delays: Pipelines are generally more reliable in terms of avoiding delays, as they aren't affected by external factors like weather or port traffic.

Fixed routes: One downside is that pipelines are rigid once built, meaning the oil can only be transported along that fixed route, limiting flexibility.

Oil Tankers:

Slower and variable travel time: Tankers travel long distances across oceans, and the speed depends on several factors, such as weather, sea conditions, and port access. On average, tankers move at 14-16 knots (16-18 mph or 26-30 km/h), but sea routes are much longer than pipeline routes.

Flexible but vulnerable to delays: Tankers have the flexibility to reach many ports around the world, but they are more susceptible to delays due to congestion at ports, geopolitical issues, or shipping lane disruptions.

Verdict: Pipelines are faster and more reliable for continuous and uninterrupted delivery, while tankers are slower and prone to delays but offer flexibility for long-distance and overseas transport.

3. Other Factors:

Geopolitical risks: Both methods can face geopolitical risks. Pipelines can be disrupted by political tensions, wars, or terrorism, especially if they cross multiple countries. Tankers, on the other hand, can be affected by piracy or conflicts around key maritime chokepoints (e.g., the Strait of Hormuz or the Suez Canal).

Environmental impact: Pipelines generally have a lower carbon footprint compared to tankers, which consume large amounts of fuel. However, pipelines can pose environmental risks if they leak or spill.

Conclusion:

For shorter, land-based routes (e.g., from Russia to European countries), oil pipelines are often the more cost-effective and faster option.

For long-distance or overseas transport (e.g., from Russia to Asian markets or North America), oil tankers are more practical but come with higher costs and longer travel times.

Ultimately, the choice between pipelines and tankers depends on specific circumstances like distance, terrain, political stability, and existing infrastructure.

[xtruss]

Blast From The Past: Why The Nord Stream Sabotage May Yet Have Its Day of Reckoning

Economic Hardship In Europe And Military Humiliation In Ukraine Mean This Pivotal Event Won’t Stay On The Figurative Sea Floor Forever

— By Henry Johnston. 28 August 2024

As We Approach the Second Anniversary of the Nord Stream Pipeline Bombing, nothing seems certain about one of the most significant acts of industrial sabotage in history.

For nearly two years, a stream of constantly shifting narratives never fully fleshed out or reconciled with each other has given the whole affair the feel of a magiclantern show illuminated by flickering torchlight.

However, earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal ventured forth with a long article purporting to, for the first time, tell the “outlines of the real story” of what happened to the one-time conduit for 35% of the Russian gas consumed by Europe.

What was clearly an attempt at a definitive semi-official version of the unsolved mystery will hardly need more than a new file name before being sent off to Hollywood as a script. We meet a quixotic group of Ukrainian military officers and businessmen who, “buoyed by alcohol and patriotic fervor,” concoct a scheme to destroy the pipeline on a shoestring budget. A small yacht is rented and a six-member crew assembled, one of whom was a woman, whose presence was intended to create the impression that the group was just a gathering of friends.

Vladimir Zelensky allegedly approved the operation initially before trying to nix it on the advice of the the CIA, which had gotten wind of it. But, alas, the team had already gone incommunicado and the daring scheme was not to be stopped.

The mix of cinematic detail, quotable lines, and careful narrative crafting gives the article the feel of what is called a ‘limited hangout’ – a view that I am not the first to suggest. This piece of spy jargon refers to a strategy of volunteering a self-contained and sensational, but relatively harmless, story, elements of which may be true, in order to conceal something more damaging. Such a technique is typically employed when it is no longer possible to sustain an entirely phony story.

Nevertheless, the piece has mostly landed with a dead thud. Swedish engineer Erik Andersson, who led the first and only independent forensic investigation at the sites of the blasts, recently gave an interview to Italian journalist Roberto Vivaldelli in which he said: “This WSJ article, as well as all previous similar story-telling pieces from major American newspapers on the subject, has a clear mission to whitewash the US and other Western nations.”

He goes on to say: “The more I look into this, the more I feel that the Nord Stream attack is just a part of a bigger scheme to cut off Russia from Europe,” adding that “the large number of institutions which participated in this scheme makes the ‘drunken Ukrainians’ story look embarrassing.”

It seems clear enough that when the truth does eventually come out, it will likely be as sordid as it is mundane, entirely unfit for Hollywood, deeply embarrassing to the West, and devoid of alcohol. And it’s extremely hard to imagine that the road to ultimate culpability doesn’t end in Washington. We may well end up not far from where veteran journalist Seymour Hersch pointed with his report claiming that the sabotage was a CIA operation carried out by US Navy divers.

The Gas Leak at the Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline. © Handout/Danish Defense/AFP

But there’s another angle here that can be pursued. More interesting than ‘who did it’ is to ask ‘how did they know they could’? In other words, when a brazen crime is committed and the perpetrator gets off scot-free, the question isn’t necessary ‘how did he get away with it?’, but ‘how did he know he would get away with it?’ A crime is one thing, but the apparent confidence in advance that it will entail no consequences is a matter of a much larger magnitude. The latter points to deeper forces operating within a society or even a civilization.

To underscore just how brazen this act was, consider this. The pipeline was part-European-owned and terminates in Germany, and the attack occurred in Danish territorial waters. Therefore, what we have effectively amounts to aggression against two NATO countries and, as per Article 5 of the bloc’s treaty, an act of war against NATO as a whole. A German official even admitted as much, telling the WSJ that “an attack of this scale is a sufficient reason to trigger the collective defense clause of NATO.”

And consider this in light of how touchy we know NATO to be about the least aggression on its territory – real or imagined. When an errant Ukrainian air defense missile landed in a Polish village in November of 2022, the incident was treated with the utmost seriousness. Poland requested a NATO meeting the following day on the basis of Article 4 – the bloc’s consultation clause that precedes the vaunted Article 5. So anyone carrying out what is unambiguously classified under international law as an act of war against NATO certainly does so at his own very substantial risk.

But in this case, there doesn’t seem to have been any risk, and the perpetrators seem to have known that. It is this sense of impunity that is more telling than the act itself. It means that it was well understood in the corridors of true Western power – not the beer-drenched bar stools of Ukraine – that a high level of discipline within the trans-Atlantic bloc could be maintained, and that the European countries affected would do exactly what they have done – go to any length not to implicate their powerful ally.

As a corollary to that, the ability to manage narratives in the media must have been seen as nearly absolute, not only in the US but across Europe. The perpetrators must have been confident that no major mainstream outlet would cut loose with a non-state-approved investigation. And indeed none have. This is as good evidence as any that the Western mainstream media, all pretentious claims to the contrary notwithstanding, has come to perform a role akin to a public-relations department for their various governments.

All of this may seem self-evident, and the perpetrators of the sabotage certainly calculated correctly that they could count on the type of discipline described above. But this begs a deeper question – what exactly is at the root of this capitulation to the American-supplied narrative across the myriad of European governments, institutions, think tanks, and media? Washington can perhaps count on a certain amount of domestic loyalty, but why Europe? This is a phenomenon that cannot be sufficiently explained by the standard appeals to American military power or economic might – or whatever threats or blackmail Washington can muster. This is particularly the case given that Europe has largely gone against its economic interests in confronting Russia.

In contemplating Europe’s inability to think critically about its own policies or carve out its own path separate from the US, the excellent Swedish analyst Malcom Kyeyune has identified a phenomenon that he calls “Europe’s mental deindustrialization.”

Abuse Only Gets Worse With Time: How the US Increasingly Mistreats Its Closest Allies! A mainstay of Washington’s policy since even before the end of World War II has been to make economic dependencies of its friends

While physical deindustrialization – the shutting down of factories, laying off of workers, and decay of productive capacities – is still underway, Kyeyune sees this mental deindustrialization as a fait accompli. The result is “a growing intellectual and cultural dependence on a superpower that is itself in a state of decadence.”

He goes on to discuss how the American and European political cultures have become all but interchangeable. He gives examples of how in 2016, many in the Swedish media were talking about the threat of Donald Trump as if Sweden were the 51st state; when George Floyd was killed and riots spread across the US, Germans and Brits started protesting as well. The European left, he notes, has begun parroting American progressive rhetoric about “settler colonialism” and “dismantling internalized whiteness,” whereas the right has likewise begun sounding the alarm about cultural Marxism and wokeness on campuses.

It wasn’t always this way, Kyeyune explains. He argues that despite the existence of a Western geopolitical bloc, the political culture of Europe was fundamentally independent until the fall of the Soviet Union. But in recent decades, he says, “the institutions that once existed to incubate domestic thinking have all atrophied and been left to rot.” Accordingly, this has rendered Europe “intellectually, culturally, and politically subordinate to a superpower increasingly incapable of performing the role it took on in the post-Cold War geopolitical order.”

Europe, he concludes, is therefore “stuck rehashing old narratives about freedom, civilization, and the West, clinging to assumptions that have been proved obsolete by events in Ukraine and the Middle East.” I would add that these notions themselves have largely been emptied of their original meaning and are now mostly employed by the Western political class to justify their own rule and bludgeon their adversaries. If Kyeyune is correct, sickly Europe simply doesn't have the antibodies anymore to resist the loudly amplified political culture from across the Atlantic.

Almost exactly a century ago, William Butler Yeats wondered “what discords will drive Europe to that artificial unity – only dry or drying sticks can be tied into a bundle – which is the decadence of every civilization?” Far downstream from this is the mental deindustrialization about which Kyeyune speaks. And of course only in such a desiccated state would a nation or group of nations allow an act such as the Nord Stream sabotage to go almost unremarked upon.

And yet the story may not be fully told. It is not uncommon for events to take on a more potent meaning long after their occurrence, and one senses that such a fate may await the Nord Stream sabotage, especially in light of what is shaping up to be a hard reckoning in the West in the coming years.

The economic reverberations of the loss of Russian gas have not stopped. Several months ago, the CEO of German renewables group RWE predicted that Germany would probably never fully recover from the 2022 energy crisis and that it would see “significant structural demand destruction in the energy-intensive industries.“ A report published by the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce based on surveys taken this past June showed a distinct trend toward entities leaving Germany as a business location, particularly in the industrial sector.

Henry Johnston, A Moscow-Based RT Editor Who Worked in Finance for Over a Decade

One industrial manager said, “the deindustrialization of Germany has begun, and it feels like no one is doing anything about it.” Germany’s economic model may be beyond repair.

Meanwhile, the singular aim of inflicting defeat upon Russia via Ukraine seems to be headed for an embarrassing and shattering denouement, all while the West has shown itself entirely not up to the task of handling the industrial demands of a real conflict.

Such foreboding developments may well sober minds. Economic hardship and military humiliation do not tend to sit well. Maybe then the Europeans can ‘reshore’ their mental faculties and see the Nord Stream sabotage for what it really was – a desperate ploy to bind by force the last completely loyal bastion of the American empire.

Carl Jung once said that there are certain events “that remain… below the threshold of consciousness. They have happened, but they have been absorbed subliminally.”

Perhaps the Nord Stream sabotage is just that sort of event. There has been no public reckoning, no true assessment of its meaning – only a constantly shifting narrative and endless deception and prevarication. It has been dismissed, downplayed, and hushed up. Its patrons told to “apologize and be quiet.“

The true contours of the Nord Stream blasts likely won't be traced publicly anytime soon, but deep down, below the threshold of our collective consciousness, we have a good sense of what this whole sordid affair is really all about. It will not stay on the figurative sea floor forever.

[sa7abnews]

Zelensky’s top aide denies Kiev’s involvement in Nord Stream attack

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/16/zelenskys-top-aide-denies-kievs-involvement-in-nord-stream-attack/

Zelensky’s top aide denies Kiev’s involvement in Nord Stream attack

The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the Ukrainian leader initially approved the plan to blow up key pipelines

Kiev had nothing to do with the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, Mikhail Podoliak, the top adviser to Ukrainian leader, Vladimir Zelensky, has said.  Podoliak made the statement to Reuters on Thursday in response to a report by the Wall Street Journal, claiming that Zelensky had initially authorized operation. The September 2022 attack ruptured the key energy infrastructure, built to deliver Russian gas to Germany and the rest of Western Europe. According to the US outlet’s sources, which included officers allegedly involved in the operation, Zelensky initially approved the attack on Nord Stream. He later tried to call it off , following pressure from the CIA, but then-Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny told him it could not be done as the sabotage group had already been dispatched and there was no way to contact it. “Such an act can only be carried out with extensive technical and financial resources… and who possessed all this at the time of the bombing? Only Russia,” Podoliak told the agency.

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Zelensky gave initial order for Nord Stream attack – WSJ

Russia has ridiculed claims that it would destroy its own pipelines, which provided it with steady revenue. Top officials in Moscow, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, have previously pointed the finger at Washington, arguing that it stood to gain the most from the disruption of Russian gas supplies to the EU. “Ukraine has nothing to do with the Nord Stream explosions,” Podolyak insisted, adding that Kiev did not gain any strategic or tactical advantage from the sabotage. The report by the WSJ claimed that “a handful of senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen” came up with the idea of blowing up the pipelines during a drinking party in May 2022, a few months after the outbreak of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. The plotters believed that it would reduce Russia’s energy profits and make the EU less dependent on Moscow, it said. Zaluzhny, who is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, told the outlet that claims of his – or Kiev’s – involvement in the destruction of Nord Stream were a “mere provocation.” A senior official in the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU, also denied the report, insisting that Zelensky in particular “did not approve the implementation of any such actions on the territory of third countries and did not issue relevant orders.”

READ MORE: Germany issues first arrest warrant over Nord Stream blasts – media

The WSJ said its reporting is partially corroborated by the findings of the German police investigation into the Nord Stream explosions. The German Federal Public Prosecutor issued a first arrest warrant in connection with the sabotage this week, according to local reports. The suspect is believed to be a Ukrainian citizen identified as ‘Vladimir Z’.  The newspaper suggested that the police investigation could “upend” relations between Kiev and Berlin, which has been Ukraine’s biggest backer in the EU amid the conflict with Russia.

[jr0vj0t3if]

[head-post]

EU, US politicians fail to reach unity on Ukrainian issue, escalation heats up

While the US and the EU are discussing the possible sending of troops to take part in the Ukrainian military conflict, Ukraine is shelling Russia with Western weapons.

Hungarian PM warns of EU’s “military psychosis”

If the West is talking about the possible sending of troops to Ukraine, it is a settled issue – only a blind man cannot see that the EU’s “military psychosis” will end with this, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on air on the Kossuth radio station.

Orbán commented on the increasing statements by EU politicians about the possible dispatch of military personnel to Ukraine:

These are not threats, these are already facts … When you (journalists) report something as a possibility, it means it’s already essentially a settled issue.

The US president did not support Macron’s idea

US President Joe Biden has expressed concern about the consequences of the possible sending of Western trainers to Ukraine, proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron during a telephone conversation, POLITICO reports.

Joe Biden fears that sending any NATO troops to Ukraine, even to train the Ukrainian army, carries risks that Western military personnel could end up on the front lines. Mr. Biden believes this could escalate the conflict. According to POLITICO, the phone conversation between the two presidents ended without any decision.

Zelensky in France

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Friday that “Europe is no longer a continent of peace,” speaking in the French parliament, a day after world leaders marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings during World War II, according to France 24.

Zelensky will later hold a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, who announced that his country will provide Ukraine with an unspecified number of Mirage-2000 fighter jets and train Ukrainian pilots as part of a new military co-operation with Kyiv.

Later today, French President Emmanuel Macron will receive Zelensky for talks at the Elysee Palace, where the leaders will hold a joint press conference.

Biden promises to help further

US President Joe Biden was due to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Paris on Friday, as Kyiv’s army endures its heaviest days of fighting since the first weeks of the military conflict and prepares for what officials say could be a difficult summer, AP News reports.

Biden and Zelensky attended events marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, along with European leaders who support Kyiv’s war effort.

Ukraine shelled Russia with Western weapons

Ukraine attacked residential neighbourhoods in Belgorod with US HIMARS MLRSs just hours after the US authorised them to strike Russian territory, Russian media reported.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during a briefing on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2024):

Immediately after these statements by Blinken, just a few hours later, the AFU attacked residential neighbourhoods of Belgorod. They did so with the help of American HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.

The well-known American economist Jeffrey Sachs gave an interview to the popular presenter Tucker Carlson. Sachs is convinced: Soviet and then Russian leaders hoped to build normal, equal and peaceful relations with US. However, the West itself was not interested in this, according to Sachs.

In a conversation with Tucker Carlson, he says that the West has long been at war with Russia, using Ukraine to do so.

In particular, the economist recalls that senior representatives of the US administration have repeatedly promised to destroy the gas pipelines built as part of the Nord Stream project. Moreover, he calls their destruction a covert military operation behind which the US is behind it.

Read more HERE

[mariacallous]

Almost two and half years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow’s war machine still runs on energy revenues—despite unprecedented Western sanctions that took a bite out of, but hardly battered, the Kremlin’s cash cow.

Russian exports of oil, natural gas, and coal continue apace with their biggest markets in Asia, especially China and India. Even Europe, which has largely sworn off Russian gas since the invasion, is stealthily buying a lot more of the stuff off tankers to meet its own energy needs, indirectly helping finance the invader that it spends so much time, energy, and money trying to combat. 

Russian energy export revenues before the war were about 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) a day, and the whole gamut of sanctions had brought that down to about 660 million euros ($720 million) by this June—but those levels have stayed remarkably steady for the past 18 months. Russia recorded a rare current accounts surplus just last month, a sign of that export health. The sanctions battle, like the war itself, seems to have stalemated.

“The glass is neither half full, nor half empty. The sanctions are working, but not as well as we expected,” said Petras Katinas, an energy analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Some aspects of Russia’s energy exports have fallen off a cliff, such as its exports of natural gas via pipelines, which have all but disappeared from the lucrative European market. But the country’s exports of oil and refined oil products, which make up the biggest chunk of its sales, have stayed essentially the same after an initial hit in the first months after the introduction of Western sanctions, and state earnings even crept a little higher thanks to a rise in global oil prices.

The main Western effort to curb Russian energy earnings was a balancing act meant to keep the global market supplied while limiting the Kremlin’s take by capping Russian oil sales at $60 a barrel. Some countries wanted an even lower price cap of about $30 a barrel to really cut Moscow’s earnings, but that idea—as demonstrated when Ukraine floated it again this spring—was politically and diplomatically a lot tougher. 

Still, the original price cap worked great at first, until Russia—with a little help from its friends in OPEC—goosed the global price of oil higher, which dragged the price of discounted Russian oil above the cap as well. That’s pretty much where it has been for the past year.

More importantly, Russia has found a reliable way to sidestep that formal limit on its crude oil exports by using a fleet of so-called shadow tankers that don’t have to follow Western restrictions on insurance, safety, and the like. About 4 out of every 5 barrels of seaborne crude that Russia sells are now carried on shadow tankers, Katinas said, meaning that they are entirely outside the reach of Western measures. (Those shadow tankers aren’t beyond the reach of the Iran-backed Houthi insurgents in Yemen, though: One got blown up trying to take Russian oil to China this week.)

“The strategy was good, but the tactics were poor—there was little enforcement,” Katinas said.

The United States cracked down on part of that trade a couple of times—late last year on shadow tankers and earlier this year on Russian state-owned vessels—by sanctioning individual tankers; CREA estimates that tougher enforcement probably cost Russia about 5 percentof its oil export revenues since October 2023. But there is still a long way to go to ensure thorough enforcement of the existing limits on Russian oil trade: Full enforcement would have kept almost 20 billion euros ($21.8 billion) out of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s coffers, CREA estimates. 

The Biden administration has toyed with additional efforts to tighten the screws on the shadow fleet, but it worries that stricter measures might send oil (and gasoline) prices higher just in time for a pivotal U.S. presidential election in November.

But there is a way to get there without causing much pain, if any, for global energy consumers, argue global economy experts Robin Brooks and Ben Harris of the Brookings Institution. There remain some 100-odd unsanctioned ships in the Sovcomflot state-owned fleet that are doing heavy lifting for Russian oil exports. Targeted sanctions on just 15 of the busiest of those tankers would cut into a good-sized chunk of Russia’s oil export earnings with little market impact. “With such a process in place, we anticipate little to no impact on global oil prices but suspect the action will meaningfully lower Russia’s revenue from the oil trade,” they wrote.

But it’s not just oil. Russian natural gas exports are not dead yet, either, despite lots of pain for state-owned energy company Gazprom and plenty of crowing in Europe about largely weaning itself off of what used to be its biggest energy supplier. Some European countries, including Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia, are still heavily reliant on the remnants of Russian gas that arrive via Ukraine or Turkey, for reasons that range from the geographic to the political. 

What’s amazing about the sharp decline in exports of Russian natural gas to what was formerly the nation’s biggest market is that Russian natural gas is not sanctioned in Europe at all, yet it has suffered the most of all of Moscow’s energy streams.

“Gas is not sanctioned; it was the stupidity of Putin” that drove the Europeans off of it, Katinas said.

But this year, Russian gas is sneaking back into Europe in liquefied form, supercooled and shipped on tankers rather than compressed and routed through pipelines. European Union imports of Russian liquefied natural gas, or LNG, are up 24 percent over past year, especially to big Western European countries such as France, Spain, and Belgium; the bloc buys half of all Russian LNG exports. 

There are plenty of reasons why—Spain’s main suppliers in North Africa have their own geopolitical squabbles that have disrupted exports, long-term contracts with Russia essentially lock in some European buyers for years, and Russian gas is nearby and fairly cheap compared to alternatives—but the biggest reason is simply concern over the security of supplies.

“There was lots of talk even last year about banning LNG imports, but then what prevailed were the fears about the implications for the security of supply,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a gas expert at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. The trickle of Russian gas that still comes in through Ukraine will end later this year; Turkey, despite offers to do more, can hardly export significantly more gas to southern Europe since it isn’t a gas producer itself. And Europeans remember the shock and pain of the war’s first winter, when energy prices skyrocketed due to the upheavals in the gas market.

Last month, the European Union finally took its first step to deal with Russian LNG—not by banning the import of the fuel, but by making sure that European ports would not be waystations for Russian exports to Asia. That measure won’t even start until early next year. And there certainly won’t be any further EU efforts to target Russian gas this year, with Hungary at the helm of the rotating presidency of the EU council.

“We are not actually banning imports, but preventing other countries from getting Russian LNG,” Corbeau said. “It makes life more difficult for Russia’s Asia exports, but does nothing to keep LNG out of Europe.”

The good news, such as it is, is that LNG isn’t quite the cash cow for the Russian government that other energy sources are. Oil is sold in huge volumes and is taxed; pipeline gas, too, helps prop up the federal budget. But LNG has all sorts of tax breaks that mean much less of that Western money goes straight to the Ukrainian battlefront. In terms of how to target Russian energy earnings, Corbeau said, “first oil, then piped gas, then finally LNG.”

The bad news is that despite years of unprecedented sanctions on one of the world’s biggest energy providers, Russia’s cash machine is still working enough to continue underwriting the war. The relatively limited success in the battle against the country’s energy sector is mirrored by similar failings in cracking down on Russian trade in all sorts of other things, from Western machinery routed through Central Asia to the high-tech Chinese-made components needed for the war. 

“We are not doing enough. We need to strengthen sanctions—we need to start enforcing sanctions, and start punishing companies that are violating them,” said Katinas. “There are just too many loopholes.”

[trendingreportz]

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market - Forecast(2024 - 2030)

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Overview

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market is growing at a CAGR of 14.6% during the forecast period 2022-2027 to reach $54.2 Billion by 2027. The growing adoption of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, sense and avoid systems, cloud computing in UAS, created significant demand in the forecast period. The incorporation of artificial intelligence in remotely piloted aircraft systems has not only enhanced their capabilities but has also enabled them to carry out several activities such as take-off, navigation, data capture, data transmission, security surveillance and data analysis without human intervention. Furthermore increasing use of UAS in various military applications such as monitoring, surveying and mapping, and combat operations is also contributing to the growth of the market across the globe. The rise in need for surveying of vast land mass, which contains uneven ground and rocky obstacles, has created demand for UAS, especially micro air vehicles in the construction sector. Furthermore, the growing popularity of aerial photography has led consumers to purchase efficient drones and use them for photography purposes using radio data link technology, thus driving the market growth in the forecast period 2022-2027. One driving factor has been the Russia-Ukraine war which has seen significant spending on UAS solutions. The Russian military has spent approximately $9 billion to domestically produce an armada of some 500 Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Ukraine, Poland and Belarus have also invested significantly on UAS solutions thereby driving the market in the short term.

Report Coverage

The report: “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Forecast (2022-2027)”, by IndustryARC covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market report.

By Type – Fixed Wing, Multi Rotor, Single Rotor, Fixed Wing Hybrid VTOL and Others By Size - Very Small UAS, Small UAS, Mini UAS, Large UAS By Range - Very Close Range, Close Range, Short Range, Mid Range and Long Range By Endurance - Low Endurance-Low Altitude, Average Endurance-Low Altitude, Average Endurance-Average Altitude, High Endurance-High Altitude and Others By Energy Source - Traditional Airplane Fuel, Battery Cell, Fuel Cell, Solar Cells/PVs, Others By Application – Recreation, Education/Academic Research, Real Estate, Industrial, Filmmaking/ Photography/ Videography, First Responder Services, Government Agencies, Survey/Mapping/GIS, Data Aggregation or Analytic services, Oil and Gas, Agriculture and Others By Geography - North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Russia and Others), APAC(China, Japan India, SK, Australia and Others), South America(Brazil, Argentina, and others), and RoW (Middle East and Africa)

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Key Takeaways

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market is witnessing a significant growth owing to the global Unmanned Aircraft System Market, with estimation of $52,368.4 million by 2027, growing at CAGR of 14.6% during 2022-2027. Increasing applications of UAS for First Responder services, Government agencies, increasing application of IR/EO cameras in the defense sector and security premises, rising adoption of UAS for Recreation and Filmmaking for best visual experience and for Surveying and Mapping applications are driving the growth of the market.

The extensive deployment of UAS for defense and military applications majorly for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations is likely to be the major driving factor for the growth of global Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market.

Night vision cameras, IR/EO sensors, Electronic Warfare, SIGINT and other payloads installed in UAS for ISR Operations has been providing major boost in the market growth of UAS in global level.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Segment Analysis- By Size

Very Small Unmanned Aircraft System is projected to reach US$ 12,787 million by 2027 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR 16.3% during 2022-2027. Very small Unmanned Aircraft System consists of nano and macro UAS. Nano Unmanned Aircraft Systems are upto 250 gm and macro UAS are generally from 250 gm to 2 kg. These small size Unmanned Aircraft System are hugely adopted for recreational purpose. There has been a high adoption of very small UAS owing to the rising demand for nano and macro-UAVs in precision agriculture offering strong potential to improve the efficiency of water, nutrient, and disease management. Such wide range of applications of nano and macro UAS in the agriculture sector is augmenting the market. Technological advancements in Unmanned Aircraft System such as sensor miniaturization, flight precision, autonomy and cloud-based image processing are boosting the adoption of very small UAS in agriculture sector. Increasing penetration of nano and macro UAS in construction site for measuring real-time work progress or in mining sector to provide volumetric data on excavations has contributed to the growth of the market. Burgeoning demand of nano and macro drones among rescue organization for delivering medical supplies or food products during emergency is driving the market.

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Segment Analysis - By Application

Among all the applications, the UAS market is dominated by the Recreational applications as they have the largest market share of $2.1 billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of 17.4% during the period 2022-2027. The market is growing due to its wide adoption of monitoring and surveying of remote locations in the region. Moreover, commercial or recreational drones are also being used for monitoring disaster-affected areas, providing aid to the victims, and for search & rescue missions. The commercial Unmanned Aircraft System market continues to grow globally and was accelerated in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic response. Autonomy and artificial intelligence (AI) are, and will remain, the main drivers promoting commercial UAS adoption and associated market growth because autonomous flight reduces the need for expensive manpower whereas AI-driven data collection and processing reduces the time it takes to produce results that directly impact decision-making.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Segment Analysis – By Geography 

The market for Unmanned Aircraft System is estimated to be $52.3 billion in 2027 and is analyzed to grow at a CAGR of 14.6% during the forecast period 2022-2027. South America is growing at a highest CAGR of 16.7% in the forecast period owing to the procurement of small UAS for ISR applications especially in countries like Brazil due to increasing defense budgets. Further in South America, small UAS are increasingly being adopted for industrial purposes, like surveying, mapping, mining, agriculture, and construction in the region. APAC is analyzed to grow at a significant CAGR of 16.65% in the forecast period, owing to the rapid rise in investment for the defense, commercial and law enforcement bodies in the Asia Pacific region, which are mostly dominated by the countries such as China, India, South Korea. These countries are allotting a considerable budget for their defense & law enforcement grooming purposes. Besides, growing incidences of interpersonal stand-offs, asymmetric warfare, terrorist activities, preparation for the forthcoming combats, along with higher economic development and enhancement in the manufacturing industries, construction sector and others are enhancing the market growth in the forecast period. North America has dominated the market growth with 33% in 2021, owing to rising investment in the defense & homeland security budgets, especially in the United States, and higher development in the information technology & microelectronics industry is expected to fuel regional market growth substantially.

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Drivers 

Rise in application of UAS by Armed forces and Other government agencies

The market for Unmanned Aircraft Systems is likely to benefit enormously from the rising safety concerns of Armed forces and different agencies around various parts of the globe. In many leading economies such as U.S, China, India, Japan and Others, the Defense Department of these countries have shown massive investments to provide their troops with all necessary military equipment which comprises mainly of UAVs and different drones. Rise in the application of UAVs by different Government agencies has been promoting the growth of Unmanned Aircraft Systems in global market. For instance, due to rise in safety concerns of armed forces and government agencies, the U.S. Department of Defence classified its unmanned aerial vehicles, which include various models of military and government surveillance drone, according to a group system that groups by factors such as maximum altitude. This system ranges from Group 1 (<1200 ft AGL) to Group 5 (> 18,000 ft). These initiatives tend to drive the market growth of UAS in forecast period. IdeaForge had signed a $20 million contract with the Indian Army in January 2021 to supply drones. This is a continued effort by the Indian Government to procure locally manufactured UAS solutions.

Growing application of UAS in air Strikes

In recent years, there has been a huge increase in the global war conflicts and severe terrorist attacks in different parts of the globe. For instance, According to SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) statistics, there were at least 15 countries with active armed conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2019. Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo among others. These active armed conflicts tend to enhance the demand of various surveillance UAVs further driving the market growth of Unmanned Aircraft Systems. Moreover, increasing ISR missions by Military & Defence sector for peace processes in highly-tensed war locations has further uplifted the demand of UAS for air strikes which tend to drive the demand of UAS in global level. Unmanned Aircraft Systems delivers airborne ISR services to intelligence, defence and homeland security officials with collection, processing, analysis and dissemination of information across the full spectrum of the Department of Defence and Intelligence Community’s mission. These applications has brought major growth in the demand of UAS, further driving its market growth. According to data obtained by VOA, U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Somalia totaled 852 in 2021, which despite being a 42% fewer than in 2020 despite the proportion of drone strikes rising. This will drive market growth.

Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Challenges 

Lack of skilled pilots and vulnerable to hackers

Various UAVs are used by different end-users for their respective applications. The pilots for UAVs in Military & Defense sector are well trained for their purpose. On the other hand, various commercial drones which are used for mapping, surveying and other applications in Real-Estate or Recreation sector lack skilled pilots. This tend to restrain the market growth of UAS in these sectors. Moreover, UAVs are controlled at remote area thus they require a data link with the base control. Hackers can intercept the data link network and access users control system. This can lead to disruption of privacy and can be very handy to people with wrong intentions. For instance, US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)’s RQ-170 Sentinel stealth UAS, a key weapon in the intelligence gathering arsenal got hacked during operation in Afghanistan. They first jammed its communications links, which disconnected it from ground controllers and made it switch to autopilot. The drone was forced to search for unencrypted GPS frequencies as they sent the UAS with wrong GPS coordinates, tricking it into believing that it was near its home base in Afghanistan.

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Unmanned Aircraft Systems Market Landscape

Technology launches, acquisitions and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Semiconductors Market. The Unmanned Aircraft Systems top 10 companies include:

Parrot

Lockheed Martin

DJI

Northrop Grumman

Thales

IAI

Airbus

Boeing

BAE

Textron

Acquisitions/Technology Launches

In April 2021, DJI launched their new benchmark for high-grade flight performance and incredible imagery with the new DJI Air 2S. This portable camera drone is an all-in-one solution which is designed to offer robust flight performance, state-of-the-art camera upgrades and high-grade preprogrammed content creation tools.

In April 2021, Ehang entered into a partnership with Aeroports de Catalunya, a public company of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The partnership aimed to provide passenger transportation, aerial logistics, take-off and landing infrastructure, airspace management and regulatory certification, etc. The partnership will further promote safe, intelligent and eco-friendly autonomous aerial mobility solutions, which will promote the applications of UAS in Europe.

In May 2021, Northrop Grumman’s MQ-4C Triton autonomous system has been contracted by the U.S. Navy to make major changes such as reducing the risk of integrating sense and avoid SAA capabilities into the high-altitude and to offer long-endurance operations. This capability will allow the Triton to safely operate in shared airspace with manned aircraft.