A surprising admission has come in a Washington Post report Wednesday morning following a months-long investigation into the Sept. 26 Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline sabotage attacks. While there remains consensus that the explosions were indeed the result of a deliberate act of sabotage, numerous officials in the West now say the evidence is not pointing to Russia.

WaPo begins by recounting the frenzied rush to immediately blame Moscow, which began within a mere hours into the massive gas leaks into the Baltic Sea: 

After explosions in late September severely damaged undersea pipelines built to carry natural gas from Russia to Europe, world leaders quickly blamed Moscow for a brazen and dangerous act of sabotage. With winter approaching, it appeared the Kremlin intended to strangle the flow of energy to millions across the continent, an act of "blackmail," some leaders said, designed to threaten countries into withdrawing their financial and military support for Ukraine.

And then comes this admission: "But now, after months of investigation, numerous officials privately say that Russia may not be to blame after all for the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines."

The Post issued the rare about-face of accusations after interviewing a total of 23 diplomatic and intelligence officials in nine countries who have been privy to the international investigation into the sabotage incident which has threatened European energy supplies going into winter.