The Nordstream Conspiracy |
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4 August 2026 - Zürich
Bojan Pancevski has manage to blend a spy novel and crime drama out of the true life story of The Nordstream Conspiracy. Just an excellent page turner! The story of what a handful of Ukrainians managed to accomplish is impressive. A few divers, soldiers, and a skipper blew holes in both the Nordstream 1 & 2 pipelines, changing the political dynamic between Germany and Russia irrevocably. I remembering hearing about it, and then all the conspiracy theories around who did it. Pancevski also follows the German police as they sift through a myriad of surveillance camera footage and digital records to track down the spies. Germany treated them as if they were ordinary criminals and not state actors. It is quite scary to be reminded of the surveillance state which exists to be used against citizens and the doggedness with which the police pursued them. Pancevski appears to be rooting for the police through much of the book, no doubt to preserve the relationships that got him this scoop. When the Polish government intercedes to help one of the Ukrainians escape, the Germans escalate to the highest levels only to have the President of Poland tell them they should apologize for trying to arrest a hero and building the pipeline in the first place. This also put the Ukrainian government in a bind, not wanting to anger one of their biggest benefactors they denied everything. After reading the book I definitely fall down on the side of the Ukrainians. It is just one of the many incredible feats they've accomplished in this war.
