Russia perhaps had no advantage wrecking Nordstream. Putin on the other hand, had the advantage that removing it as an option meant the oligarchy couldn’t just oust him, walk back his war, and then use turning the gas to Europe back on to get the money flowing back into their accounts.
Ah yes, because Russia is simultaneously an authoritarian regime where Putin holds all power and an oligarchy where the Kremlin is feckless. If he wanted to prevent the taps from turning on, he could have just arranged for a false flag strike on the terminals or sabotaged the terminals in some other way (which, by the way, would be on Russian soil).
Russia perhaps had no advantage wrecking Nordstream. Putin on the other hand, had the advantage that removing it as an option meant the oligarchy couldn’t just oust him, walk back his war, and then use turning the gas to Europe back on to get the money flowing back into their accounts.
Ah yes, because Russia is simultaneously an authoritarian regime where Putin holds all power and an oligarchy where the Kremlin is feckless. If he wanted to prevent the taps from turning on, he could have just arranged for a false flag strike on the terminals or sabotaged the terminals in some other way (which, by the way, would be on Russian soil).