Ukraine on Thursday dismissed as “absolute nonsense” suggestions that it was involved in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, which carried Russian gas to Europe via the Baltic Sea.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Wednesday that Ukraine’s then-top military commander, Valery Zaluzhny, oversaw the plan to blow up the pipelines in September 2022.
“Ukraine’s involvement in the Nord Stream explosions is absolute nonsense. There was no practical sense in such actions for Ukraine,” Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak told AFP.
“It is clear that the Nord Stream pipeline explosions did not stop the war, did not prevent Russian aggression and did not affect the situation on the front line,” he said.
“Furthermore, such an action greatly enhanced Russia’s propaganda capabilities,” he added, suggesting Russia had “direct incentives” to carry out the explosions.
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The twin Nord Stream natural gas pipelines, running from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, came under intense scrutiny when Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Several large gas leaks were discovered from the pipelines in September 2022, with seismic institutes recording underwater explosions shortly before.
The pipelines were not operating when the leaks occurred, but still contained gas that spewed to the surface and into the atmosphere.
The Journal’s report came shortly after German media reported that German investigators probing the sabotage were now focusing on Ukraine and had issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian.
“like a torpedo”
According to the newspaper, the idea to blow up the pipelines emerged during a meeting of top Ukrainian military and businessmen in May 2022, a few months after Moscow invaded Ukraine.
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Six people were directly involved in running the operation, which cost about $300,000 and was privately funded, the report said.
Using a chartered yacht, they sailed to the area of the pipelines and dived to plant explosives on them, it said.
Zelensky also initially approved the operation, but when the CIA learned of the plan, he was asked to stop it from continuing and ordered it to stop, according to the report.
Zaluzny, who was ousted earlier this year in a coup, pushed through anyway, the WSJ reported, citing Ukrainian officials.
Zelensky took over the military command to proceed with the operation despite the order to pull the plug, according to the newspaper.
But the commander replied that once the sabotage team had been dispatched, it could not be withdrawn.
“They told him it’s like a torpedo — once you fire it at the enemy, you can’t pull it back, it just keeps going until it goes ‘boom,'” a senior officer with knowledge of the discussion was quoted as saying. .
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Speculation has long swirled about who was behind the operation, with Ukraine and Russia denying any involvement.
Source: AFP