Sabotage on the underwater part of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, according to US intelligence, was carried out in 2022 by a “pro-Ukrainian group” whose members are opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This was reported on March 7 with reference to “US officials” by the publication The New York Times.
According to the publication, US officials have no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his “chief aides” were involved in the operation, and also that the attackers acted on instructions from top officials from Ukraine.
US officials who reviewed the intelligence said the saboteurs were most likely citizens of Ukraine or Russia, or a combination of the two. Washington emphasizes that neither American nor British citizens are involved in this story.
The article in the American publication notes that it is Ukraine and its allies that “have the most logical potential motive for attacking the pipelines,” since “they have opposed this project for years.”
The United States emphasizes that there are no “firm conclusions” about the credibility of the data obtained by intelligence.
The New York Times sources declined to disclose the nature of the intelligence received.
Also on March 7, material was published in Germany The time about the investigation of explosions on the gas pipeline. In particular, with reference to investigators from Germany, data are given that “traces lead towards Ukraine.”
At the same time, it is not excluded that we are talking about an operation under a false flag with the aim of deliberately pointing to Ukraine as the culprit of sabotage.
According to the data voiced by journalists, the group of saboteurs consisted of five men and one woman, they had fake passports. They allegedly included two divers, two assistants, a commander and a doctor. For the operation, they used a yacht rented in Poland from a company “which, apparently, belongs to two Ukrainians.” With her help, explosives were planted on the gas pipeline, the interlocutors of journalists say.
Allegedly, the ship was subsequently found, traces of explosives were found on it.
On the version of Ukraine’s involvement in explosions on the gas pipeline reacted on Twitter, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak.
“While I love collecting interesting conspiracy theories about the Ukrainian government, I have to point out that Ukraine has nothing to do with the incident in the Baltic Sea and has no information regarding “pro-Ukrainian subversive groups,” he wrote.
Also, the adviser to the head of the Presidential Office repeated the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said at one time to the question of what happened to the Russian nuclear submarine “Kursk”.
“What happened to the Nord Streams? “They sank,” as they say in the Russian Federation itself,” Podolyak said.
On the night of September 26, 2022, a leak was recorded on one of the lines of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the exclusive economic zone of Denmark southeast of the island of Bornholm. Later, such leaks were recorded on both threads of the Nord Stream northeast of the island.
Shortly before the pressure drop in the pipes and the discovery of a gas leak, Swedish and Danish seismological stations recorded underwater explosions.
On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that damage to the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines was organized by Western countries, and the United States “is the main beneficiary.”
US President Joe Biden called the damage to gas pipelines “a deliberate act of sabotage”. “Now the Russians are spreading disinformation and lies… We are going to work with our allies to get to the bottom of what exactly happened,” he said on September 30.
According to the adviser to the Minister of Energy of Ukraine Olena Zerkal, Russia could deliberately damage the Nord Streams in order to avoid fines for not supplying gas to European consumers.
The defense ministers of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland called the incident a sabotage. These countries that were affected by the incident are investigating.
The State Security Service and the Swedish Prosecutor’s Office reported on November 18 that “foreign objects” were found at the scene. The analysis showed the remains of explosives on them.
European investigators said the attacks were deliberate but did not say who they thought was responsible. Reuters .
