“Russia was involved”
Nord Stream blast: The trail leads to Moscow
By Markus Frenzel and Sergei Maier
7/11/2023 7:31 am
According to RTL research, there are clear indications that Russians played a role in the sabotage of the gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. There is a Russian lead to the sailing yacht “Andromeda”, on which German investigators previously suspected a Ukrainian demolition squad. For the CDU politician Kiesewetter it is clear: “Russia was involved in this attack.”
It is still a big mystery: who is behind the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines? German investigators are following a hot lead – the sailing yacht “Andromeda”. Explosive residues were found on the ship. A special command from Ukraine is said to have used the yacht to blow up the pipelines. It was rented by a travel agency from Warsaw, which is said to be owned by several Ukrainians. However, research by RTL and ntv shows that one of the women named in the company’s documents is Russian. She also helped hold elections for the occupiers after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. According to the Polish commercial register, the woman owns the company that, according to German investigators, is said to have rented the “Andromeda”.
The company “Feeria Lwowa”, the name of the Warsaw travel agency, writes on its now-deleted website that it stands for “absolute transparency and respect for the customs” of the respective country. But if you take a closer look at the website, it quickly becomes clear that transparency is nothing more than an empty phrase. Three people who do not exist are quoted as alleged customer reviews. The accompanying photos were taken from the Internet by other people.
Passport shows address in Crimea
A blonde woman who is cited as an alleged customer is the British radio presenter of a local BBC offshoot. One man is a university professor in real life, another is a fashion model. All appear under false names on the site. The website was deleted between December 2021 and January 2022, shortly before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A look at the travel company’s documents shows that there are two women at the helm. Nataliia A., who has been managing director since autumn 2021, and Diana B., who, according to the commercial register information, holds 95 percent of the shares in the company. Another travel agency in Kraków is registered with Nataliia A. This is just a front company.
What is interesting, however, is what you find out about Diana B. The excerpts from the commercial register for “Feeria Lwowa” give an address in Kerch, a city in Crimea that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. An excerpt from the passport document, which RTL and ntv have exclusively, confirms that Diana B. is registered at this address. But even more explosive: She has a Russian passport. Diana B. is originally from Uzbekistan and moved to Kerch with her family in 2001. She may never have had a Ukrainian passport. She has since married and taken her husband’s name.
A photo from 2019 showing her in a well-known shopping street in the Polish capital shows that she was also in Warsaw while she was working at “Feeria Lwowa”. During this time she held the post of manager of the supposed travel agency.
Diana B. confirms stay in Russia
In the most recent photos from June 2023, which Diana B. posted on her social networks, she can be seen in front of the football stadium in Krasnodar, Russia. Would a Ukrainian saboteur be safe on Russian territory? For the CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter that is out of the question. “She could not stay in Russia or move freely if she had acted against the Russian state, because millions of assets were destroyed there,” says the CDU politician, who saw the RTL research.
In addition, further research shows that Diana B. not only has a Russian passport, but also actively supported pro-Russian politics in the years after the annexation of Crimea. In the years that followed, she was a voting member of the pro-Russian election commission several times. When RTL calls Diana B., she confirms that she is currently in Russia. She does not want to give any information about her role in “Feeria Lwowa”.
For the CDU politician Kiesewetter, the new findings should have direct consequences for the German criminal investigators. “I hope that the Attorney General investigates in these directions,” says Kiesewetter. “That has to be dealt with legally.” The federal prosecutor did not want to comment on the research in the direction of Russia. It was “followed up as part of the ongoing investigations to clarify the facts,” it said. For CDU security experts, one thing is clear: “Russia was involved in this attack.”