Uncovering US Intelligence’s Role in Sabotaging the Nord Stream Pipeline: The Pro-Ukrainian Group Behind It

New intelligence reviewed by US officials suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline last year.

The newspaper, citing US officials, stated that there was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his top aides were involved in the operation, or that the perpetrators were acting under the direction of any Ukrainian government official.

Reuters could not independently verify the news and US officials could not be reached for comment. Representatives from Kiev and Moscow could not immediately be reached.

The United States and NATO called the September 2022 attacks on gas pipelines an “act of sabotage,” while Moscow blamed the West and called on the UN Security Council to conduct an independent investigation. Neither side presented evidence.

The New York Times claimed that the intelligence review indicates that the attackers opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin, “but does not specify the members of the group or who directed the operation or paid for it.” The report added that “US officials refused to disclose the nature of the intelligence information, how it was obtained, or any details about the strength of the evidence it contains. They said that there are no firm conclusions about it.”

Zelensky’s aide: Kiev “is not involved at all” in the Nord Stream attack

A top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Kiev was “absolutely not involved” in last year’s attacks on the Nord Stream pipeline and had no information about what happened.

“There is no doubt that Ukraine is not at all involved in abuses on pipelines,” Mykhailo Podolyak said in a statement to Reuters. “It doesn’t make the slightest sense.”

He added that Ukraine had no information on exactly who was involved, but speculated that what he described as Russian efforts to destabilize the region might be to blame.

“Starting from the first day of pipeline construction at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, Ukraine has repeatedly drawn the attention of its Western partners to the sharply increasing strategic risks to Europe’s security that the realization of this project carries,” Podolyak said. .

Russia says the New York Times Nord Stream report justifies pressing for an international investigation

The Russian deputy envoy to the UN said that the New York Times report on who could be responsible for the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year “only proves that our initiative to launch an international investigation under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General was very timely.”

Russia’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, told Reuters that Russia planned to call a vote in the Security Council at the end of March on a draft resolution demanding Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to conduct such an investigation.