An undersea explosion near the Danish island of Bornholm where gas from the Nord Stream pipeline began to leak in a Planet Labs PBC satellite image on September 27, 2022.
Washington – A pro-Ukrainian group may be behind last year's attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. It was written today by The New York Times, citing unnamed US officials who referred to new intelligence. At the same time, the sources said there was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi was involved in the operation or that the group was acting at the behest of Ukrainian government or military officials. Ukraine again today denied any link to the attack, while the US referred to European investigations. A Russian diplomat called for an independent investigation under the auspices of the United Nations.
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Three of the total four pipelines of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines on the bottom of the Baltic Sea were disrupted by as yet unexplained explosions last September, one pipeline of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline remained intact. The damage to the pipelines set off a wave of speculation about who was behind the explosions and remains one of the most serious unsolved mysteries in Russia's year-long war against Ukraine. The United States and NATO have previously described the attacks as sabotage, while Moscow has blamed the West for damaging the gas pipelines and called on the UN Security Council to independently investigate the matter. Neither side has provided evidence to back up their claims.
Today's report by German television ARD agrees with the NYT's information that a pro-Ukrainian group may be behind the attack on the gas pipeline. According to ARD and other German media, the explosives were brought to the scene by a yacht rented from a company based in Poland. According to ARD, this company apparently belongs to two Ukrainians. A team of six went out to sea: five men and one woman. It was the captain, two divers and a couple of their assistants, and a doctor. ARD reports that it is not clear from which country they came because they showed themselves with professionally forged passports.
American officials interviewed by NYT reporters said they did not know much about the perpetrators and their detentions. According to them, however, a review of newly collected intelligence indicates that it was an opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the members of the group have not been identified. It is also unclear who led the group or paid for the operation. Nord Stream saboteurs, according to NYT sources, most likely have Ukrainian or Russian citizenship, or both. But according to them, US or British nationals were not involved in the action. The explosives were apparently planted with the help of experienced divers who did not appear to work for the military or intelligence agencies.
“U.S. officials declined to release the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or any details about the strength of the evidence it contained. They said, that there are no firm conclusions about her,” the NYT wrote. According to him, the sources differ in their opinion on how much weight they should attach to the new information.
Mychajlo Podoljak from the Ukrainian presidential office today rejected the connection of the attack with Ukraine. “Ukraine has nothing to do with the incident in the Baltic Sea and has no information about 'pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups',” he wrote on Twitter, calling Kiev's possible involvement a “fun conspiracy theory”.
Russian diplomat Dmitry Polyansky on the contrary, he believes that the NYT report “only proves that the (Russian) initiative to launch an international investigation under the auspices of the UN Secretary General is in order”. According to him, Russia plans to call for a vote in the UN Security Council by the end of March on a draft resolution that will ask UN Secretary-General António Guterres for such an investigation.
White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters today that Washington is awaiting the conclusions of the investigation. in Europe.
Germany, Sweden and Denmark are investigating the case independently. Only a few days ago, these countries informed the UN Security Council that the investigation is ongoing and that there are no conclusions yet.
