It's certainly possible. But Putin has been operating with good internal logic this entire time (even if the assumptions driving that logic have been flawed at

It's certainly possible. But Putin has been operating with good internal logic this entire time (even if the assumptions driving that logic have been flawed at points). And I'm not really sure what logic would cause him to attack Nordstream. The two best ideas I have are: 1. He wants to remove an option of retreat for Germany. Putin things that with Nordstream inactive, Germany can wait until they get low on gas in the middle of winter before crawling back to Russia and conceding in exchange for gas. But if it's damaged, Germany kind of need to start repairing it now, and Putin can force them to concede sooner. And Putin probably feels short on time. 2. Putin is already planning for a civil war, and doesn't think he will control Nordstream during a civil war. By destroying Nordstream, it will be harder for some civil war faction to turn it back on. Neither are great theories. At least without some extra evidence to suggest Putin is thinking along one (or both) of these lines.