Three of the total four pipelines of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines on the bottom of the Baltic Sea last Septemberpipeline was disrupted by as yet unexplained explosions, one pipe of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline remained intact. The gas pipeline Nord Stream 1 was no longer flowing to Europe in the time before the explosion due to the growing tension between Moscow and the West after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moscow justified the stoppage of traffic as maintenance. Nord Stream 2 was though completed, but never launched due to the war in Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions.
The damage to the gas pipelines set off a wave of speculation about who was behind it and remains one of the most serious unsolved mysteries of Russia’s year-long war against Ukraine, the NYT writes. According to some representatives, Ukraine and its allies would have the greatest motive for attacking the gas pipeline. They have opposed the project for years, calling it a threat to national security. because it would make it easier for Russia to sell gas to Europe.
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. They were the captain, two divers and a couple of their assistants, and a doctor. ARD reports that it is not clear what country they came from, as they showed themselves with professionally forged passports.
The explosives, which destroyed three of the four pipelines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline at the bottom of the Baltic Sea last fall, were brought to the crime scene by a yacht rented in Poland, according to the findings of German television ARD and other German media. The ARD report agrees with the American newspaper The New York Times that a pro-Ukrainian group may be behind the attack on the gas pipeline.
In this undercover operation, the alleged perpetrators used a yacht rented from a company based in Poland. According to ARD, this company apparently belongs to two Ukrainians.
A funeral procession for a fallen Ukrainian soldier was held in Kyiv today.
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US officials said they did not know much about the perpetrators or their detentions. However, a review of newly gathered intelligence indicates that they were opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the members of the group have not been identified. It is also unclear who led the group or paid for the operation.
“U.S. officials have refused to disclose the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or any details about the strength of the evidence it contains. They stated that there are no firm conclusions about her,” wrote the NYT.
Reuters writes that it has not yet been able to retrieve the information contained in the NYT material to independently verify and has so far been unable to reach US officials for comment. Representatives of Kyiv and Moscow have also not yet been reached.
Ukraine denies the connection
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’.” wrote on Twitter, where he called the possible involvement of Kiev a “fun conspiracy theory”.
Russian diplomat Dmitry Polyansky, on the other hand, believes that the NYT report “it just proves that the (Russian) initiative to open an international investigation under the auspices of the UN Secretary General is in place”. 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 waiting for 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.
The United States and NATO called the September 2022 attacks on gas pipelines sabotage, while Moscow blamed the West and called on the UN Security Council to independently investigate the matter. Neither side provided evidence to support their claims. In February, the White House dismissed as “total fabrication” a blog post by US Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claiming that Washington was behind the explosions. Investigations by authorities in Denmark, Germany and Sweden have not yet been closed.
