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[KittyTac]

Bruh.

Steering the topic away from this minefield, yeah Dagestan is Muslim and I don't think their off days are the same as in Christian parts. Not sure tho, I barely know about the area.

Also, the national guard was deployed there according to my sources. Not just police, national guard. Shit's real.

[martinuzz]

Poland is offering free 1-day military basic training, which includes shooting lessons, weapon handling and map reading.
The free trainings will be offered to all Polish citizens between ages 18 and 65.

[Starver]

Tangential to the conflict, it is reported that Nordstream 2 has sprung a leak. Not even operating, but had gas pumped into it anyway, it seems to have sprung a leak off the coast of Denmark.

Which is concerning, if (probably) entirely due to trivial incompetence/ill-luck. That at least didn't happen with a fully in-use Nordstream 2, I suppose, plus might help put another nail in the coffin for any hoped restoration of full exports even by the other pipelines.

[anewaname]

I didn't find anything about how undersea pipelines are designed to handle their payload. To protect ocean wildlife/fisheries, there must be a "crisis protocol" that would involve flooding the pipeline, probably with water, to force the payload of hydrocarbons out the pipeline exits.

This was just added into wikipedia:

On 27 September 2022, unexplained large pressure drops have been reported in both of the NS1 and one of the 2 NS2 pipelines, as well as a located gas leak in Danish waters from NS2 late on 26 September. Berliner Zeitung newspaper has asked if it is sabotage.[14]

Is this Putin's middle finger to someone specific within the EU? If it happened to the Danish end of both pipelines, what effect could that have on local fisheries compared to fisheries closer to Russia? Fish migration and spawning?

From this article:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Toxic to Fish and Shellfish

Many people think that natural gas would just bubble up to the surface and quickly evaporate off but in fact a significant portion dissolves in the water and is highly toxic to marine life. The gas can rapidly penetrate the bodies of fish, doing direct damage to gills, skin, chemoreceptors and eyes, and filling up the gas bladder, making the fish unable to control its buoyancy.

and

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Accidental gas releases on a migratory route of fish such as salmon, either in the sea or from a pipeline close to a river, can block a spawning migration. A localized release can thus have a regional impact.

In the Gulf of Mexico, high concentrations of methane were found around offshore drilling rigs during a 1975 study by Sackett and Brooks. In the North Sea and in California, bottom ecosystems are disturbed and their species compositions altered where there is gas seepage. Biomass of living things declines and shellfish disappear.

Is "environmental terrorism"? What if it is not Putin/Russia who did it?

[martinuzz]

Tangential to the conflict, it is reported that Nordstream 2 has sprung a leak. Not even operating, but had gas pumped into it anyway, it seems to have sprung a leak off the coast of Denmark.

Which is concerning, if (probably) entirely due to trivial incompetence/ill-luck. That at least didn't happen with a fully in-use Nordstream 2, I suppose, plus might help put another nail in the coffin for any hoped restoration of full exports even by the other pipelines.

German media report, based on assessment by security specialists, that the leak must have been caused by professional sabotage by 'a state', saying that the damage can only have been caused by divers and special units.

https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/druckabfall-in-beiden-leitungen-gemeldet-nord-stream-pipelines-moglicherweise-durch-anschlage-beschadigt-8687140.html

https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/duitse-media-lek-nord-stream-vrijwel-zeker-sabotage-door-staat~b50cf61f/

[Lord Shonus]

Reports of a failed Russian counterattack that went very badly.

[Starver]

German media report, based on assessment by security specialists, that the leak must have been caused by professional sabotage by 'a state', saying that the damage can only have been caused by divers and special units.

Certainly, as I wrote, that was at the back of my mind ("... (probably) ..."). The Russians (also the Americans, certainly, but not sure if they have any decent motives in this case) do possess and have apparently exercised the ability to interfere with submarine infrastructure of various kinds, and would find it fairly simple to knock a few holes in the pipe. Or find it somewhat less simple to do something else (carefully cut into the pipe and 'block it', or even splice a secret remote-operation valve-section for various conceivable reasons) and thus mess the intended operation up and have to just scarper. But the first reports I heard were just (one) Nordstream 2 being affected.

If, as reported, it's across at least three pipes (across both Nordstream sets) then it's certainly much less probable to be an accident (anchor-drag?) or especially a failure (welding fracture?). And, if it's a secret operation, then its location beyond the borders of Russia makes it either Russia or someone trying to make it look like a botched-job by Russia, because of the overall mindgames that must be required at this level on intrigue.

Nordstream2edgy4me!!!

[da_nang]

To add to that, Swedish National Television is now reporting on registered undersea detonations around the area at the time of the pressure drops on both pipelines.

It's not entirely clear if these are detonations from explosives or pipe ruptures. Highly unlikely to be manufacturing or installation error as both pipelines are affected.

So it's either explosives or someone ramming a large anchor into the pipelines.

[martinuzz]

The reports say seismological stations in both Sweden and Danmark registered explosions of strenght 2.3 on the Richter scale.
Must have been a really big anchor.

[bloop_bleep]

Imagine being the guy who dragged an anchor across something of major geopolitical interest during a time of major geopolitical tensions.

[Strongpoint]

IMO, Gazprom\Russia found a way to avoid paying fines for breaking contracts for not supplying Gas this winter.

[Bralbaard]

Might just be Putin threatening us. " Look what happened to this perfectly fine pipeline, would be a shame if that happened to any of the other vulnerable pipelines across the EU"

I bet some people are running calculations right now on what the impact of that would be.

[Telgin]

IMO, Gazprom\Russia found a way to avoid paying fines for breaking contracts for not supplying Gas this winter.

Depends on if the contracts have stipulations for failures like this, intentional or otherwise.  The contracts could just say they have to supply it and it doesn't matter why not if they can't.

[Il Palazzo]

It's NS2. It was never operational, right?

[Bralbaard]

Both NS2 and NS1.

North stream 2 was never operational, NS1 was already down for "repairs"
This is how you repair stuff in Russia.