A Drunken Evening, a Rented Yacht: The Real Story of the Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage

It was the kind of outlandish scheme that might bubble up in a bar around closing time. 

In May of 2022, a handful of senior Ukrainian military officers and businessmen had gathered to toast their country’s remarkable success in halting the Russian invasion. Buoyed by alcohol and patriotic fervor, somebody suggested a radical next step: destroying Nord Stream.

After all, the twin natural-gas pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe were providing billions to the Kremlin war machine. What better way to make Vladimir Putin pay for his aggression?

Just over four...