LAccording to a media report, new information suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group orchestrated the explosions on the Baltic Sea gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 last September. The New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing American government officials.
However, there is no evidence of involvement or complicity by the Ukrainian government or President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Kiev had spoken of a threat to the country’s national security if the second pipeline went into operation. Ukraine had always denied any involvement in the act of sabotage.
According to the anonymous sources, the new findings suggest that the perpetrators were opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, there are still many questions. It is not known who exactly belonged to the group and who commissioned or paid for the attack on the pipelines. However, it is likely that the attackers came from Ukraine or Russia; American or British citizens were not involved in the act of sabotage.
The White House does not comment
According to officials, the explosive devices were most likely planted by experienced divers who did not appear to work for the military or any intelligence agency. However, it is possible that they would have gone through such special training in the past. According to the anonymous sources, there are still crucial knowledge gaps in relation to the events. However, this could be the first decisive indication from investigations that have not yet been made public. Government officials did not say where the new information came from.
The White House initially declined to comment on the media report. The spokesman for the National Security Council, John Kirby, referred on Tuesday to the ongoing investigations by Sweden and Germany. He will “not anticipate” them and leave it to the European countries to comment on the state of affairs. Putin previously blamed Washington for the blasts; President Joe Biden had expressly rejected this. Some Western countries suspect Russia of being behind the blasts.
In the United States, an article attracted attention in February in which journalist Seymour Hersh, citing an anonymous source, claimed that Biden had ordered the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. According to this, during a NATO exercise last June, American naval divers – supported by Norway – attached explosive devices to the lines, which were finally remotely detonated in September. The White House had sharply rejected the report. He was “completely wrong and completely made up”.
German investigators also assume Ukrainian authorship
Swedish investigators spoke of “serious sabotage” after the leaks in the gas pipelines in November, but did not name anyone to blame. Investigators from Germany said last month that Russia’s involvement in the explosions near the Danish island of Bornholm was “currently not verifiable”.
According to joint research by ARD, SWR and “Zeit”, the German investigative authorities have also found evidence that the traces of the pipeline attack lead to Ukraine. In the course of the extensive reconstruction of the events, it was possible to identify the boat that was allegedly used for the operation. It is said to be a yacht apparently owned by two Ukrainians and rented from a company based in Poland. So far, however, investigators have found no evidence of who commissioned the act of sabotage.
According to the research, the attackers were a group of six people: a captain, two divers, two diving assistants and a doctor. In order to rent the yacht, they are said to have presented professionally fake passports. According to information from ARD, SWR and “Zeit”, a Western secret service reportedly sent information to European partner services in the fall, shortly after the explosions, that a Ukrainian commando had caused the destruction.