Nord Stream Attack: Mirror Cannot Patch Holes in Andromeda Story

By Dagmar Henn

The Mirror and other German media are trying to further substantiate the suspicion against Ukraine with regard to the blasting of Nord Stream. After the allegations originally made against Russia could not be upheld and the famous US journalist Seymour Hersh published articles that pointed to the United States itself as the perpetrator, the Andromeda hypothesis surfaced after a visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Biden according to an unknown group of six people with a rented yacht are said to have triggered the explosions.

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In a recent article, the Mirror now to clear up some of the contradictions in the original Andromeda hypothesis. The explosive used was octogen or cyclotetramethylenetetranitramine, which has a stronger explosive effect than TNT and is insoluble in water. Although octogen was invented in 1942, it is still in use today and is new enough that the health effects of the substance have not yet been evaluated in the EU either. What is known, however, is that octogen is fatal to rats at a dose of 200 milligrams per kilogram.

“In the cabin of the ‘Andromeda’ large amounts of leftovers were found,” he writes Mirror. Sure, that doesn’t mean that those involved ingested a dangerously high dose – the lethal dose for a 75-kilogram adult would be 15 grams, or about a tablespoon – but it would be a clear indication of the level of carelessness that is in turn imminent contrast to the technical complexity of the task to be accomplished.

500 kilograms of TNT, which the investigators said would have been needed for the explosions, could not have been transported with such a small yacht. “Octogen is much lighter than TNT,” explains the Mirror. This can be checked by searching for the TNT equivalent, which can be found for octogen under the US military abbreviation HMX. It’s a whopping 1.1. This would reduce the 500 kilograms of TNT to a full 454 kilograms of octogen – not really a solution to the weight problem; even at Semtex the ratio would be more favourable.

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This means that the objections regarding the complexity of installing such a large explosive charge in the given water depth remain. And it is still questionable whether this is even possible without the use of industrial diving equipment, i.e. without a compressor system, pressure suit and hoses, just with oxygen bottles.

According to an association from NDR, WDR and South German the head of the company from which the Andromeda was rented is said to be based in Kiev; German investigators are also said to have identified a Ukrainian in his mid-twenties with links to the military, who is said to have been part of the six-man crew. Only the question of who is ultimately responsible remains unanswered: “The secret services are now wondering whether the crime could have been carried out by a controlled commando or by Ukrainian secret services – and to what extent parts of the Ukrainian government apparatus in the have been images.”

The consequences that the Andromeda hypothesis would have to have in this form are not further elaborated. If there were serious suspicions against Ukrainian perpetrators, the first step would have to be to demand the extradition of all suspects from Ukraine within a short period of time and to stop supporting Ukraine until extradition.

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In the event of a serious suspicion against Ukrainian government authorities, it would be an act of war against Germany, the mere suspicion of which would have the consequence of putting all support for Ukraine on hold until a full investigation has been carried out. After all, it would be the height of absurdity to also supply arms to a state that has declared itself an enemy by such an act. The fact that parts of the current federal government did not intend to use Nord Stream 2 is just as irrelevant as the fact that no gas was flowing through Nord Stream 1 at the time of the attack. If a neighbor destroys your car, the fact that you weren’t driving it at the time doesn’t change the wrongness of the action.

As can be seen, even the “Ukrainian trace” does not solve the political dilemma of the attack. As long as the West stands behind Ukraine, the consequence for Germany is always to swallow the humiliation and give up its own fundamental interests or change sides. Only when Washington has dropped Ukraine could the transatlantic betrayal be concealed by turning against Ukraine.

more on the subject – Investigations into Nord Stream: State actor is behind the terrorist attack