Written by Julian Macfarlane
This is a recent video from SouthFront where I do voiceovers and occasionally write articles. I have been a SouthFront supporter for a long time. I don’t always agree with them — but they are honest reporters, and stick to the facts in a way that one wishes the mainstream media in the West would attempt to emulate. They have been comprehensively banned by the Empire. This is why you should pay attention to their work.
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This is what Marco Rubio has called the “censorship-industrial complex”. In any case, SouthFront is unfailingly attached to truth.
The video above is about threats to the two gas lines connecting Russia, Turkey, and Europe. I am quoting the whole thing with annotations, links, and graphics because I think it is an important and well-written article
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russian security services have prevented an attempted sabotage of the TurkStream gas pipeline.
According to Moscow, the plan was not just to damage infrastructure, but to derail diplomatic efforts and destabilize energy security across the entire region. In other words, the target was both economic and political.
Two key routes across the Black Sea are now considered vulnerable — TurkStream and Blue Stream. These are not just engineering projects. They are strategic arteries linking Russia, Turkey, and Southern Europe. Blue Stream, launched in 2003, delivers up to 16 billion cubic meters of gas annually to Turkey. TurkStream, operating since 2020, carries almost twice that volume.
For countries such as Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, and Greece, these flows are critical. Homes depend on them for heating. Industries depend on them for production. Power plants depend on them to keep cities running.
If sabotage succeeds, the consequences would be immediate. Gas prices would spike. Inflation would accelerate. Energy shortages could follow. The Balkans would be hit hardest. At the same time, expensive liquefied natural gas suppliers would benefit from the chaos.
The article is based on a speech that Putin made to an FSB security meeting, warning that Moscow has intelligence about planned underwater attacks.
Our operational information should also be now carried by the media. It should probably be out today, perhaps it already is; I did not have a chance to check. It concerns a possible explosion targeting our gas pipeline systems – TurkStream and Blue Stream pipelines – along the floor of the Black Sea.
They simply cannot back down. They do not know what else they can do to undermine this peaceful process aimed at settlement through diplomatic means.
They are doing everything possible to stage a provocation and to derail everything that has been, let us put it carefully, achieved at this negotiation track. We will discuss this further behind closed doors.
I just mentioned that they are unable to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia – simply unable – yet they want it so much. They just cannot go on with their lives without it, or believe they cannot. They feel they must defeat Russia. They are searching for any method, any at all, anything whatsoever. They will push themselves too far and later regret it
Protecting the lines is extremely difficult. They stretch for more than 900 kilometers along the seabed. Even a small explosive charge, placed precisely, could rupture a pipe.
Experts describe a simple scenario. A civilian cargo ship could carry explosives or deploy an underwater drone. Heavy maritime traffic and busy ports make inspections complicated. Turkey has tightened monitoring, but finding hidden devices on large vessels remains a serious challenge.
The speech is nuanced. Context adds to its importance.
Many commentators in Russian media complain about the slow development of Russia’s blue water fleet. It is small compared to that of the US, which is designed to project imperial power globally just as the British navy did in support of the British Empire.
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But times have changed – and targets, too.
Battleships no longer battle other warships. The mostly bombard villages and towns.
War is now economic, infrastructural, and commercial, usually indirect, masked, or “asymmetric’ . All war aims at control of resources and today that means targeting the enormous extended infrastructure that supports international supply lines is vulnerable to sabotage and “asymmetric” warfare-not just piracy of tankers but the use of bombs and drones against underwater communications and pipelines, such as Nordstream.
Putin talks about the emotions that drive the Ukrainians who do not want to admit they have lost the war to plan what are essentially terrorist attacks on the two Turkish pipelines providing Europe with LNG.
This is, as the SouthFront article says “political”.
Beyond the technical risks lies a political calculation. Moscow argues that Kiev could benefit from disrupting Russian energy exports and sabotaging negotiations.
Turkey also has much to lose. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is positioning Ankara as a regional energy hub and mediator. An explosion in Turkish waters would damage that image, frighten investors, and weaken the economy.
In this tangled web of motives, Kiev’s interests may align with those of London and Brussels. For them, sabotaging TurkStream offers a way to kill all the birds with one stone: derail unpopular peace talks, strike at Trump’s reputation as a peacemaker, and punish Erdogan for his independent foreign policy—thereby hitting Turkey hard.
The important phrase is “kill all the birds with one stone”.
European elites share the same historic animus against Russia as Ukrainian Neo-Nazis although l\et us keep in mind that not all Ukrainians have this mindset.
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This was reported by RT — ignored by the Western Censorship Industrial Complex.
Naturally not all European people are Russophobic but this modernized form fo racism permeates European elites —and to an extent all Anglo-Saxon countries; it is implicitly proto-fascistic – and also proto- militaristic. Militarism goes hand in hand with jingoism —so Russophobic posturing has to be sold as a response to imagined threat, combined with a sense of superiority.
European leaders have the same interests in continuing the proxy war on Russia as Ukraine— they want the power that comes in wartime, with restrictions on democratic processes. Sponsoring Ukraine’s attacks on Russia gives them the power of principals, without responsibility. Of course, ultimately, they are proxies for the US.
Behind every proxy is a principal, who will always benefit in the end.
One must always ask, “Cui Bono”.
So it is that European states are openly talking war on Russia while at the same time subverting or attempting to subvert democratic institutions at home and in countries like Romania, Slovakia, Moldova, and Georgia. Among other things, the Europeans have even been talking about giving Ukraine nuclear weapons, which is unlikely since the UK’s weapons are effectively under US control and Macron’s control in France is too shaky.
The US in the meantime pretends to be
- an honest broker
- a champion of democracy and free speech
- a supporter of Ukrainian sovereignty
- European!
The Americans are tacitly encouraging the Ukrainians and Europeans to fight on: they see war between Europe and Russia as weakening both. The US can make money selling high-priced gas to Europe and weapons and providing loans that will later allow it to take control of resources of all kinds. Weakening Russia means weakening both BRICS and China and maintaining US financial hegemony.
Think of the US as a global carpet bagger. In the end, it wants to come in and take over.
This is clear from Rubio’s speech at Munich, which provides the background for threats like nuclear weapons for Ukraine or the bombing of the Turkish pipelines or civilians in Russia itself.
Rubio says the “West” sent “missionaries, pilgrims, soldiers, [and] explorers” to build vast empires as a heroic saga, creating the “greatest civilization in human history”. Therefore, Western nations should not be “shackled by guilt and shame” regarding the millions of lives lost in endless wars, and the colonial atrocities and genocides along the way — but rather promote its “noble legacy”.
Decolonization post 1945 was “managed decline” Now is the “New Western Century”:
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American Empire
This vision sees the US as the New Rome and Europe as its provinces. All must pay tribute. Europe must get its LNG from the US, which plans to take control of the world’s fossil fuel resources wherever they may be.
There is no room in this picture for independent states. Not Russia. Not China. Certainly not Turkey.
As I read in the video…
TurkStream today is more than a pipeline. It is a lifeline for millions and a symbol of regional stability. If it is hit, the shock will spread far beyond the seabed — into markets, homes, and politics across Europe. Only time will tell whether Ukraine is prepared to take such a step. If so, Kyiv will gain many adversaries in the Black Sea region.
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Certainly, there would be consequences. Such actions might raise the question: does “Ukraine” have the right to continiue exist as a sovereign state?
Certainly, European strategies are destructive and have consequences for NATO and the EU.
Europe and Ukraine are also creating adversaries: Georgia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary are increasingly anti-EU. If energy is cut off to Bulgaria, they too may turn. Romania is unstable and if the EU loses there, the pro-EU government in Moldova will likely fall.
Julian Macfarlane – Twice Gifted (2e) neurodivergent Fulbright Scholar. Harvard PhD. Investigative Journalist. Geopolitical Analyst and Consultant. Middle East and North Africa media adviser. Media advisor: Japanese Foreign Ministry, Japanese SDF. Japanese Prime Minister’s Office. Japanese Aerospace and Defense industry and others. NHK. Author. More than 300 articles in various fields. Awarding winning voiceover actor.
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