The American daily “Wall Street Journal” reported that top Ukrainian officials were involved in the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The plan was supposedly approved by Volodymyr Zelensky himself, who later tried to call off the attack. Reports of Ukraine's participation in the explosions are denied by Zelensky's advisor. “Ukraine has nothing to do with these explosions,” he said. German media describe the impact the latest information may have on German-Ukrainian and German-Polish relations.
President Volodymyr Zelensky's advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, denied involvement Ukraine in the attacks on Nord Stream gas pipelines, Reuters reported on Thursday. Podolak also stated that the attacks that took place in September 2022 were Russia.
“Only someone with large technical and financial resources can commit such an act. And who had all this at the time of the attacks (on Nord Stream – ed.)? Only Russia,” Zelensky's advisor said in a commentary for Reuters. “Ukraine has nothing to do with these explosions,” he stressed, adding that Ukraine had not gained any strategic or tactical advantage in connection with the attacks on the Russian gas pipeline.
“WSJ”: Zelenskyy first approved the plan, then withdrew
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that top Ukrainian officials were involved in the attack on Nord Stream. The American daily cited four senior Ukrainian officials who requested anonymity.
According to the WSJ, in May 2022, a handful of high-ranking Ukrainian military officers and businessmen gathered to celebrate their country’s success in holding back the Russian invasion. Under the influence of alcohol and patriotism, someone suggested the next, radical step: destroying the Nord Stream pipelines.
A little over four months later, in the early morning hours of September 26, Scandinavian seismologists picked up signals indicating an underwater earthquake or volcanic eruption hundreds of miles away, near the Danish island of Bornholm. They were caused by three powerful explosions and the largest release of natural gas in history, equivalent to the annual CO2 emissions of Denmark.
Attack on Nord Stream. German media describe the results of the investigation: a group of six people on a boat were supposed to have done itJakub Loska/Facts about the World TVN24 BiS
According to the WSJ, the Ukrainian operation cost about $300,000. It involved a small chartered yacht with a crew of six, including trained civilian divers. One of them was a woman whose presence helped create the illusion that this was a group of friends on a pleasant cruise.
President Zelensky initially approved the plan, according to one officer who participated in it and three people familiar with it. But later, when CIA found out about it and asked the Ukrainian president to stop the operation, who ordered a halt to the activities.
Zelensky’s commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, who led the operation, nevertheless pressed ahead. The Daily spoke to four senior Ukrainian defense and security officials who either participated in the plan or had direct knowledge of it. All of them said the pipelines were a legitimate target in Ukraine’s defensive war against Russia.
The WSJ notes that parts of their accounts were corroborated by a nearly two-year German police investigation into the attack, which produced evidence including emails, cellphone and satellite phone data, and fingerprints and DNA samples from members of the alleged sabotage team. The German investigation did not directly link President Zelensky to the covert operation.
Zaluzhny, currently Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain, told the newspaper he knew nothing about any such operation and that any suggestion otherwise was “a mere provocation.” He added that Ukrainian forces were not authorized to conduct foreign missions and therefore could not be involved.
“Problems loom not only in relations between Germany and Ukraine, but also in German-Polish relations”
The matter is also widely commented on by the German media. German commentators believe that the case of the attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines may negatively affect relations between Germans and Ukraine, if the suspicions about Ukrainian participation in this operation are confirmed. The press also writes about Poland's role.
“The investigation into the attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in September 2022 may turn out to be a political bombshell. If it turns out that Ukrainian divers with the support of the services or the army actually blew up the gas pipelines, relations between Berlin and Kiev are at risk of a crisis. However, one should not forget who the real threat is,” writes journalist Reinhard Veser for “FAZ”.
He added that “an attack using explosives must be prosecuted”. “Problems threaten not only relations between Germany and Ukraine, but also German-Polish relations” – the “FAZ” commentator continues. “The uncooperative attitude of Polish offices towards the investigation raised doubts even before the Ukrainian wanted on an arrest warrant left Poland” – we read.
“Die Welt”: the case is not solved.
“The Attorney General is seeking an arrest warrant for a man who is considered the main suspect and has fled to Ukraine. Has this solved the case? Not at all. There are still too many uncertainties and open questions,” says Dirk Banse.
The case is “highly political,” the commentator said, recalling that the services spread various versions, blaming the Americans at one time, the Russians at another, as well as the Ukrainians and others.
Nord Streamforsvaret.dk
A commentator for the Berlin-based newspaper “Berliner Zeitung” doubts the prosecutor's version that the attack was carried out by Ukrainian divers. “There are still many open questions. The fact that a diving instructor would commit the greatest act of sabotage in post-war European history does not sound convincing,” writes Raphaler Schmeller.
In his opinion, information that the attack was carried out without consultation with state institutions is unreliable.
ARD: Was the suspect warned?
The evening news “Tagesthemen” reported that the German government had given the Polish side an arrest warrant for Volodymyr Z. in June. “There (in Poland) there was apparently no initial reaction (to the warrant). In early July, the suspect left for Ukraine. German investigators believe it is possible that he was warned,” the commentary said.
“In Poland, the Nord Stream attackers are considered national heroes. For any Polish government, detaining and extraditing a Ukrainian considered to be the perpetrator of blowing up these pipes would be a political matter,” said Holger Stark, deputy editor-in-chief of the weekly “Die Zeit”, as quoted by ARD.
German government deputy spokesman Wolfgang Buechner said on Wednesday that the results of the Nord Stream investigation would not change German support for Ukraine in the war with Russia.
Nord Stream Explosions
On September 26, 2022, three of the four pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 were destroyed at a depth of about 80 meters on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. A large part of Russia's natural gas for Germany was supplied directly through Nord Stream 1 for years. Many Eastern European and Western countries have repeatedly strongly criticized the project and warned of the geopolitical consequences of bypassing Eastern Europe in the transit of the raw material.
During the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Moscow suspended deliveries even before the destruction of Nord Stream 1. In turn, Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline It was ultimately never launched due to the Russian invasion and ensuing political disputes.
Russia blamed USABritain and Ukraine for the explosions, which largely cut off Russian gas from the lucrative European market. The countries have denied involvement.
Germany, Denmark and Sweden launched an investigation into the incident. During the investigation, the Swedes found traces of explosives on several items collected from the site of the explosion, confirming that the explosions were deliberate.
Main image source: forsvaret.dk