Ukraine on Wednesday denied any involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. New York Times attributes to a “pro-Ukrainian group”, based on information from US secret services.
Data collected by US secret services suggests that the perpetrators of last year’s sabotage of the two gas pipelines were “opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin,” the newspaper reported.
Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the two gas pipelines have been at the center of geopolitical tensions, fueled by Moscow’s decision to cut gas supplies to Europe in alleged retaliation for Western sanctions.
On September 26, 2022, four massive gas leaks were discovered, preceded by underwater explosions in the gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany, in international waters.
Both pipelines were out of service at the time, but contained significant amounts of methane gas.
According to the New York Times, a “pro-Ukrainian group” is said to be behind the sabotage, based on information from the US secret services, but without giving any details about these elements or about the identity of this “pro-Ukrainian”. group”. -Ukrainian”.
However, Kiev has formally denied the allegations.
“While I like to collect fun conspiracy theories about the Ukrainian government, I have to say that Ukraine has nothing to do with the accident in the Baltic Sea and has no information about ‘pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups’.wrote on Twitter Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
According to US officials, there is no indication that the Ukrainian president was involved in the sabotage operation.
Western countries had accused Russia of being responsible for the explosions.
German media said on Tuesday that the investigation had identified the boat used for the sabotage. The ship will have been chartered by a Polish-based company, apparently owned by two Ukrainians, the weekly Die Zeit and the broadcasters ARD and SWR wrote.
A six-person team of five men and one woman, including divers, reportedly transported and placed the explosives to the site.
Judicial investigations into the destruction of the gas pipelines are being carried out by Germany, Denmark and Sweden.
“However, the nationality of the authors is not clear,” adds Die Zeit, adding that fake passports were used to rent the boat.
Investigators were able to determine that the team departed from the German port of Rostock on September 6, 2022 and later found the boat near a Danish island.
Traces of explosives were discovered “on the cabin table” of the boat.
“Although the clues point to Ukraine, investigators have still not been able to determine who ordered the operation”said the weekly.
The New York Times added that the US intelligence information does not allow “any conclusion” and “leaves open the possibility that the operation was secretly launched by a third party with ties to the Ukrainian government or its security services.” .
In a recent article, US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote that US Navy divers, aided by Norway, planted explosives on the pipelines in June, which triggered the explosions three months later.
The United States stated that this information was “totally false”.
Source: DN
