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Who Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipeline? - Lawless Planet | Wave AI Podcast Notes

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Who Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipeline?

Lawless Planet

Mon Sep 22 2025

Summary

Lawless Planet – "Who Blew Up the Nord Stream Pipeline?"

Podcast: Lawless Planet
Host: Zach Goldbaum
Date: September 22, 2025

Overview

This episode of Lawless Planet examines the shocking destruction of the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea—widely described as the single largest methane leak in history. Host Zach Goldbaum guides listeners through a tangled web of geopolitics, energy dependency, espionage, and environmental impact. The question driving the episode: Who sabotaged the pipelines—and why? Goldbaum, with insights from German investigative journalist Holger Stark, meticulously reconstructs the timeline, sifts through theories, and highlights the global stakes of this real-life thriller at the heart of Europe's energy crisis.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Attack: Setting the Scene

[00:00–03:28]
- In September 2022, a mysterious group aboard the sailboat Andromeda is believed to have placed explosives on the Nord Stream pipelines.
- Ten days later, European authorities detect a massive, continuous methane eruption in the Baltic Sea. The economic and political fallout is immediate.
- Quote:
  "They don't know it yet, but they've just reported what may be the single largest methane leak in recorded history."
  – Zach Goldbaum [02:28]

2. The Pipeline's Past: Energy, Dependency, and Politics

[05:15–10:41]
- Goldbaum provides context for the Nord Stream pipelines' construction, focusing on how they bypassed Ukraine and reinforced Germany’s energy reliance on Russia.
- Holger Stark explains how Germany’s quest for cheap gas led to a dangerous dependency orchestrated by Russia's Putin.
- Quotes:
  "Nord Stream for Germany always was a tool to obtain cheap gas. Putin did that intentionally to lure Germany into an economic connection and also a dependency."
  – Holger Stark [08:31]
- Ukraine’s loss of pipeline transit revenue and its protection role foreshadowed growing vulnerability, culminating in Russia's annexation of Crimea.

3. The War and the Energy Crisis

[11:29–14:13]
- Tensions heighten in early 2022 as Russia masses troops near Ukraine. Western leaders use the fate of Nord Stream 2 as potential leverage, but Russia invades anyway.
- Gas remains a bargaining chip and a point of vulnerability throughout the conflict.
- Quote:
  "We will bring an end to it."
  – Joe Biden on Nord Stream 2 if Russia invades [12:22]

4. Sabotage Confirmed: Unraveling the Mystery

[15:57–17:37]
- The methane leaks are swiftly identified as deliberate sabotage, sparking speculation—was it Russia, the US, or an unknown operator?
- Holger Stark’s initial instincts point to Russia, recalling previous false flag operations.

5. Conspiracy & Investigation: Tracking Leads

[17:37–20:45]
- Theories swirl: Some see US motives, especially after Seymour Hersh’s controversial report suggests direct US involvement. The report is met with skepticism.
- Holger Stark refuses to follow Hersh’s example, focusing instead on concrete evidence and verifiable sources.

6. Breakthrough: The Andromeda Trail

[21:06–25:22]
- Goldbaum and Stark present the investigative turning point—German police shift focus from large industrial ships to an inconspicuous yacht. The Andromeda is revealed via charter records tied to a Ukrainian national.
- Evidence including DNA, personal effects, and traces of explosives links the boat to the attack.
- Quote:
  "They found hairs, a base cap, a T-shirt... scratches all over the platform. Some really heavy devices obviously have been on that platform. And they also found some tiny traces of explosives."
  – Holger Stark [24:51]

7. The Suspects: Piecing Together Identities

[25:33–32:13]
- Authorities focus in on six crew members—five men and one woman—seen moving and acting suspiciously along the Baltic ports.
- A crucial clue: a speeding ticket photo places Volodymyr Z., a Ukrainian diving instructor, at the scene. He escapes prosecution thanks to political reluctance in Poland, and is spirited back to Ukraine.
- Quote:
  "The hatred against the Russians in Poland is unbelievable... so the question is, what do you do with such a hot potato that's coming from Germany?"
  – Holger Stark [31:20]

8. The Motive: Ukraine's Gamble

[32:13–34:26]
- Reporting by the Wall Street Journal uncovers a fateful meeting of Ukrainian leaders and businesspeople, where a plan is hatched to destroy the pipeline as an economic attack on Russia.
- Questions of authorization remain. Did President Zelensky approve it? Was it American-supported?
- Quote:
  "The Ukrainians never would be able to do a very sophisticated operation without American training. That doesn't mean necessarily that this was jointly planned, but the logistical support in general by the Americans is extremely important."
  – Holger Stark [35:01]

9. Fallout & Broader Lessons

[34:26–37:16]
- One Ukrainian is arrested in Italy, but who ordered the hit remains a mystery.
- The destruction of Nord Stream—meant to bolster European security—inadvertently accelerates Europe’s green energy transition. German carbon emissions drop to a 70-year low.
- Quote:
  "For the Germans, Nord Stream and the Russian invasion was the end of a lie or an illusion."
  – Holger Stark [35:38]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

"What happened that night aboard the Andromeda remains a mystery..." — Zach Goldbaum [00:28]
"It's such an overwhelming story... almost impossible for one reporter to break a story and bring it home safely." — Holger Stark (on team collaboration) [23:17]
"Reality is sometimes writing the best thrillers. So if you would be a scriptwriter, you couldn't imagine a better plot with better twists than this one." — Holger Stark [16:49]
"When that illusion was shattered, a small sliver of good news did begin to emerge... Europe finally confronted what had been keeping the light bulb on." — Zach Goldbaum [35:47]

Important Timestamps

00:00–03:28 — Introduction and summary of the Nord Stream sabotage
05:15–10:41 — Origins, geopolitical context, and economic dependencies
13:57–14:13 — Russian invasion of Ukraine; gas supply crisis
16:16–17:37 — The first public realization of sabotage
21:06–25:22 — Discovery of Andromeda and key physical evidence
31:20–32:13 — Politics of the arrest warrant and evasion of suspects
34:26–35:47 — Immediate aftermath, European response, and net-zero acceleration

Conclusion

In this high-stakes episode, Lawless Planet pieces together a real-life geopolitical thriller, tracing the sabotage of a key energy pipeline from murky motives, through an improbable investigation, to profound consequences for Europe and the climate. The lingering ambiguity—who ordered the operation and with whose blessing—encapsulates the episode’s final warning: behind every environmental disaster is a tangle of covert agendas, sometimes with unexpected (and not always catastrophic) outcomes.

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Transcript

Zach Goldbaum (0:00)

Wondry subscribers can listen to new episodes of Lawless Planet early and ad free right now. Join Wondry in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. Late one night in mid September of 2022, a white 50 foot sailboat bobs in the Baltic Sea. On the side of the vessel, just above the waterline, is its name, Andromeda. Andromeda was the heroine of a Greek myth about hubris, revenge, and a monster rising from the depths of the sea. That's some heavy foreshadowing, in case that wasn't clear. What happened that night aboard the Andromeda remains a mystery, but it seems that at some point, several people in wetsuits drag a heavy device across the deck. They pull it onto the diving platform at the rear of the boat. Then they jump into the water and disappear into the night. About a week and a half later, a Danish navy aircraft glides low over the Baltic. The pilot scans the horizon and spots a pocket of choppy water in the distance. He flies toward it. As he gets closer, he realizes he's found what he's looking for. A vast ring of sea, half a mile wide is fizzing and bubbling like a stew. Later that day, about 50 miles away, some German sailors are standing on the deck of a freight ship passing through the Baltic. Suddenly, there's a low, quaking rumble beneath the ocean. A few seconds later, there's another tremor. And then, after a pause, it happens a third. An officer grabs binoculars and scans the horizon in the direction of the noise. Off in the distance, he notices something unusual. A dense cloud hanging above the water. He radios the sighting to his headquarters. The sailors don't know it yet, but they've just reported what may be the single largest methane leak in recorded history. By some estimates, it's the equivalent of a day and a half of methane emissions for the entire planet. The gas continues bubbling for a week. The plumes are coming from a set of undersea natural gas pipelines called the Nord Stream. The damage is extensive. One of the pipelines has a 600 foot hole blown into it. The cost of repairing this sabotage will run into the billions. But the political consequences are of even greater concern because the pipelines supply Russian natural gas to much of the European Union. Heads of state across the world call emergency meetings to discuss the matter. They are all asking the same two questions. Who bombed the Nord Stream pipelines? And why? From Wondry, I'm Zach Goldbaum, and this is Lawless Planet. Each week we tell a new story about the true crimes fueling the climate crisis and the people fighting to save the planet or destroy it.

Joe Biden (3:28)

Tonight, sabotage at sea. That's what President Biden is calling the leaks and explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines.

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Zach Goldbaum (5:15)

Foreign invaded Ukraine in February of 2022. It was more than just a war between a superpower and its smaller neighbor. It was also a messy breakup between one of the world's biggest suppliers of oil and gas and its clients in the West. For regular people, that meant it suddenly cost more money to fill up your tank or heat your home, at least in the immediate aftermath. Yet another data point to bolster my controversial War is bad. But of course, it wasn't bad for everyone. As the war in Ukraine has dragged on, there's already one clear winner the fossil fuel industry. According to one analysis, the top five oil companies profits grew by 125% in the war's first year alone, thanks to spikes in fuel costs, most of which were passed on to customers. This isn't New. Whenever geopolitical shocks happen, from the Iranian oil crisis of the 1970s to the Iraq war, it sets off a fossil fuel bonanza. Take one player out of the market, and like clockwork, others will swoop in to fill the void. But the explosion of the Nord Stream pipelines did represent something new, something different. These pipelines not only physically connected Russia to Europe, but they entwined historic enemies through common interest. Now that those ties were severed, maybe irreparably, what exactly would that mean for the future of energy and in turn, the climate? That's former German Chancellor Angela Merkel talking to reporters in 2011 about a project that at the time seemed like a giant leap for German Russian relations. That project was the Nord Stream one, a pair of natural gas pipelines running from Russia through the Gulf of Finland straight to Germany. On paper, it was brilliant. Germany would get direct access to as much Russian gas as they wanted, and Russia would lock in a permanent customer in the heart of Europe. So in November 2011, after 14 years and $8 billion, the Nord Stream 1 went operational. There was some light fanfare for the occasion. Photographers took photos of Merkel and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev smiling and pretending to turn a valve. But unless you're a big fan of natural gas, you probably didn't pay much attention at the time.

Zach Goldbaum (17:48)

Holger isn't alone. Many fingers point at Putin. The reasoning is that if Russia will launch an unprovoked war, they're capable of other provocations, like bombing their own pipeline. Russia has a history of clandestine operations. They've used the poison Novochok to weaken or kill dissidents. And Putin himself has orchestrated false flag operations before. The most infamous one was in 1999 when Putin allegedly ordered a series of apartment bombings in Moscow and other cities, then blamed them on Chechen separatists. 300 people died. But Putin got his war in Chechnya. Admittedly, it may seem counterintuitive to blow up your own pipeline. Wouldn't that hurt Russia's economy as much as the EU's? Well, one theory is that Russia wanted to spark an energy crisis to weaken opposition to the war in Ukraine. Consider the timing. It's September. Winter is coming and destroying the Nord Stream one could cause a major spike in home heating costs for millions of Europeans. But Vladimir Putin goes on the defensive, redirecting blame at the West. But sanctions are not enough for the Anglo Saxons, he says. They have moved on to sabotage. And on February 8, 2023, a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter would publish a controversial report that supports Putin's claim. Seymour Hersh is a legendary American investigative journalist. He broke the story of the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. He covered Watergate and the COVID US bombing of Cambodia, and helped expose America's torture program at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. But when he publishes an article entitled How America Took out the Nord Stream Pipeline, it raises some eyebrows. His piece details how the US bombed the Nord Stream pipelines to bolster German and EU support for Ukraine in the war against Russia. It is a plausible story. The US has a lot of reasons for wanting to destroy the Nord Stream. It cuts off a major source of income for Putin's war machine. It makes it easier for EU nations to support Ukraine without fear of Russia cutting off their gas. And since the start of the war, America's natural gas exports to Europe have increased by 100%. No more Nordstream could make those increases permanent. But Hirsch's story is based on just one anonymous source and no mainstream outlets will touch it. Hersh decides to publish it on his substack instead. It makes a splash in some circles, but the White House dismisses it. Most of the media remains skeptical, which doesn't mean Hersh isn't right. He just can't prove it. Holger Stark sees this and vows not to make the same mistake.

Zach Goldbaum (28:36)

When the storm moves on, the Andromeda refuels with 193 liters of diesel. The crew pays cash, around €500. Then they sail away. Ten days later, on September 23, the Andromeda returns to its rental facility. An employee inspecting the boat notes dents and scratches on the diving platform. They're significant enough for him to document them on the intake form. The damages would have been deducted from the renter's security deposit, but no customer returns to collect it. Three days later, on September 26th, the pipelines explode. The trail of clues all point back to the Andromeda and to Ukraine. But who were the six people who carried out this brazen act of sabotage? Holger knows that unless that mystery can be solved, there's still not enough evidence to prove that Ukraine was behind the bombings of the Nord Stream pipelines. But soon, German authorities will get a major break in the case. In August 2024, Holger Stark and his team learned that German authorities have issued an arrest warrant for suspect in the Nord Stream sabotage case because charges against him have not been proven. Holger's reporting identifies him only as Volodymyr Z. And no, Z isn't short for Zelensky. This Volodymyr Z is a Ukrainian army veteran, engineer and diving instructor. A lucky break helped the Germans identify him. On the night of September 8, 2022, while the Andromeda was docked in the harbor town of Vik, a nearby traffic camera snapped a photo of a white van going over the speed limit. The van had a Ukrainian license plate, and clearly visible in the photo, sitting in the passenger seat was Volodymyr Z. German authorities are also able to trace the van. It's run by a private chauffeur service that drove the team from Ukraine to through Poland and into Germany. When Holger hears about this, he's convinced Volodymyr Z is one of the bombers. His team keeps digging and manages to track Volodymyr down. He lives in Poland, in a suburb of Warsaw, and to their surprise, he's still walking around a free man. That's because Polish authorities have chosen to ignore Germany's arrest warrant.