According to a new report by the Wall Street Journal, top Ukrainian officials ordered the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.
The Wall Street Journal published an exclusive report on Thursday framing Ukrainian agents behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022. The report coincided with the publication of an arrest warrant by German authorities on a Ukrainian citizen suspect for the same sabotage.
Nord Stream 1 and 2 were two gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea. Before the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia was Germany’s biggest oil and gas provider.
Even two and a half years after the invasion began, European Union countries still import billions of euros in Russian fossil fuels.
The pipelines were heavily criticized in the West even before the war began as many feared they would make Germany too dependent on Russia. After Berlin tried to cut ties with Moscow following the invasion, Germany was hit by a severe energy crisis leading to a recession.
On September 26th, 2022, seven months after the invasion began, the Nord Stream pipelines were irreversibly damaged by a confirmed man-made sabotage. The explosion that cut the pipelines in two created a local environmental crisis as tons of natural gas poured into the Baltic Sea.
Who destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines?
Following the sabotage, the United States and Russia pointed fingers at each other for the attack.
According to the WSJ report, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyi and at the time Ukraine’s chief of the armed forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi ordered the operation. Also according to the report, Zelenskyi backed from the operation after the CIA advised them against it, but Zaluzhnyi pressed forward anyway.
That the CIA came to know about the plan was also reported by The New York Times last year. The NYT suggested that “a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.”
“US officials said that they had no evidence President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine or his top lieutenants were involved in the operation,” the NYT also reported.
Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, flatly denied the allegations.
Yesterday, German authorities confirmed the existence of an arrest warrant against a Ukrainian suspect who could have carried out the sabotage. The man lived in Warsaw, but Polish authorities could not locate him at his house as he reportedly fled back to Ukraine.
Germany is a staunch Ukrainian ally in its effort against Russia, providing billions of euros in financial and military aid. The investigation could sour the relationship between the two allies, though support is unlikely to stop for this reason.
