You're right not to blindly trust what the American government tells us. Where I'm from, the Cold War never happened, so I admit the finer points of US-Russia relations in this particular political climate may be a bit lost to me.

On the other hand, it's my understanding that the Russian government did, in fact, take responsibility for the kidnappings. If that's true, then there's little anyone can say concerning Russia's hand in the matter, regardless of whether actual Russians were manning that submarine or not.