Yes it does. Russia's goals was to force Europe's hand (Germany mostly) to certify NS2. First, in Aug. Russia cuts NS1 to 20% citing supposed repairs: "Gazprom

Yes it does. Russia's goals was to force Europe's hand (Germany mostly) to certify NS2. First, in Aug. Russia cuts NS1 to 20% citing supposed repairs: "Gazprom in July cut gas deliveries via NS1 to 20% of maximum capacity, citing turbine repair delays that it blamed on Western sanctions against Russia because of the war." There, they say "oh hey but look you have NS2 so why don't you certify it". Then, they turned it off completely: "The state-controlled firm disclosed Friday flows on NS1 would be closed from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 during scheduled maintenance on its only currently operating compressor at a key station, Portovaya CS." Again, they say "well you can always use NS2". But when Europe didn't bite the bullet and surrender to their demands, they made it even more obvious that the only route for gas would be NS2, by blowing NS1. If this was UK or US sabotage, they would have blown NS2 completely, while possibly leaving NS1 alone. Links: https://www.naturalgasintel.com/russias-gazprom-plans-3-day-halt-of-ns1-natural-gas-flows-to-europe/ https://www.naturalgasintel.com/russias-gazprom-plans-3-day-... https://www.naturalgasintel.com/russias-planned-shutdown-of-ns1-pipeline-sends-european-natural-gas-prices-soaring-bolsters-henry-hub/ https://www.naturalgasintel.com/russias-planned-shutdown-of-...