War in Ukraine: the CIA would have heard of a Ukrainian plan to destroy the Nord Stream gas pipeline

2023-06-07 05:07:14

Who is behind the sabotage of the two Nord Stream gas pipelines? The CIA had heard in June 2022 that Ukrainian special forces were planning to blow up these huge infrastructures linking Russia to Germany, reports on Tuesday le Washington Post. The daily cites information from numerous confidential documents published online by young American soldier Jack Teixeira before the leak was discovered and the suspect apprehended in mid-April.

These documents indicated that an intelligence agency of an unspecified European country had informed the CIA, four months after the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, that military divers answering directly to the commander-in-chief of the forces Ukrainian armies were planning this attack on Nord Stream.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, intended to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany, were hit by underwater explosions on September 26 and thus rendered inoperative, potentially depriving Moscow of billions of dollars in revenue. Several countries, including Russia, Ukraine and the United States, had been accused of bearing responsibility, but all had denied it.

Unbeknownst to President Zelensky

According to the Washington Post, the United States, after having been warned of the supposed attack plan, had informed allies, including Germany.

For the European intelligence agency at the origin of this information, the operation was supervised by General Valeriï Zaloujniï without the knowledge of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The Washington Post revelations are consistent with information from German investigators according to which a team of six people equipped with false passports would have borrowed a sailboat from the port of Rostock, in Germany, to carry out the operation. The Polish company having rented the sailboat would in fact be owned by Ukrainians.

Danish media recently reported, however, that a Russian navy vessel specializing in underwater operations was photographed near the sabotage area shortly before the explosions.