The Ukrainian presidency today described as “absolute nonsense” its alleged involvement, based on the publication of the American newspaper Wall Street Journal, in the sabotage in 2022 of the Russian Nord Stream pipeline, which crosses the Baltic Sea.
“Ukraine’s involvement in the Nord Stream explosions is absolute nonsense. These actions have no practical interest for Ukraine,” said adviser to the Ukrainian president Mykhailo Podoliak to AFP, reacting to the newspaper’s report that the sabotage had been approved at the highest level by Kiev.
According to the US newspaper, which relies mainly on Ukrainian military sources, the attack with explosives on the bottom of the Baltic was carried out under the supervision of the head of the armed forces of Ukraine at the time, Valery Zaluzny, despite the subsequent opposition of President Volodymyr Zelensky. who had called for the plan to be stopped.
The idea of sabotage was hatched in May 2022, during a meeting of high-ranking officers and heads of operations of Ukraine, three months after the Russian invasion of the country, the American newspaper writes.
What the Wall Street Journal wrote
According to the WSJ, a total of six people were directly involved in this venture at a cost of approximately $300,000, which was covered entirely by private funds.
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had initially approved the plan, according to an officer involved in it and three people with knowledge of it,” the US paper said.
“But then, when the CIA found out about it and asked to stop it, he ordered it to stop,” the report continues.
But Zaluzny ignored that order and his team modified the original plan, the WSJ adds.
Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Zaluzny, who has since been appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to London, said in writing that he had no knowledge of such an operation and called any claims to the contrary a “provocation.”
After the September 2022 sabotage of the Russian pipeline, Zelensky demanded an explanation from Zaluzny, according to the WSJ, which cited three people with knowledge of that conversation.
He replied that it was too late, saying that it was no longer possible to contact the sabotage team, as any contact could jeopardize the operation.
“He told (Zelensky), it’s like a torpedo, once you launch it at the enemy, you can’t recover it, it continues on its course until it explodes,” described an officer with knowledge of this conversation, who was cited by the US newspaper .
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