"On its face, The New York Times article yesterday, “Intelligence Suggests Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Pipelines, U.S. Officials Say,” appears intended to exonerate both the U.S. and Ukrainian governments from any involvement in the destruction last September of the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany.
The thrust of the Times article is that Ukrainians unaffiliated with the Kiev government were the ones who did it, according to the newspapers often cited, unnamed “U.S. officials.”
But a closer examination of the piece reveals layers of nuance that do not dismiss that the Ukrainian government may have had something to do with the sabotage after all."
The public will never know who blew the pipeline, at least not for years or decades. No matter who did it, it's not a good look for Washington's narrative. That US energy and weapons companies are making obscene profits off of the backs of European workers because of the war is not lost on Europe. A terrible Ukrainian loss at Bakhmut might lead to a negotiated end to the war.