SHIPS AND CIA TIP-OFFSÂ
Investigative journalists have been carrying out their own research to solve the Nord Stream whodunnit, leading to sometimes sensational – if unconfirmed – reports.
Dutch military intelligence warned the CIA of a Ukrainian plan to blow up the pipelines three months before the attack, Dutch broadcaster NOS and Germany’s Die Zeit and ARD said in June. The Washington Post made a similar claim.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly denied his country was behind the sabotage.
“I would never do that,” he told Germany’s Bild newspaper in June, adding that he would “like to see proof”.
The New York Times wrote in March that US officials had seen intelligence indicating that a “pro-Ukrainian group” was responsible, without Zelenskyy’s knowledge.
German media have focussed their attention on the “Andromeda”, with reporters from Der Spiegel magazine and broadcaster ZDF recreating the journey they believe was made by the six-person crew.
According to their reporting, a forged passport used to hire the sailboat leads back to a Ukrainian soldier while the charter fee was paid by a company registered in Poland with ties to a woman in Kyiv.
However, Danish media have reported that a Russian naval vessel specialised in submarine operations, the SS-750, was photographed near the site of the blasts days before the attack.
A claim by US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in February that the US was behind the attacks and that Norway assisted was dismissed as “fiction” by the White House.
FALSE FLAG
Experts have not ruled out a “false flag” operation by Russia, with clues deliberately placed to pin the blame on Ukraine.
Andreas Umland, an analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies, sees Russia as “the most likely” culprit.
Any suspected involvement by Kyiv in an attack on Europe’s energy infrastructure could threaten the support of allies, which would benefit Russia.
At the same time, the destroyed pipelines could help Gazprom avoid compensation claims for undelivered gas, even though the company displayed a reluctance to keep the taps open before the blasts.
Moscow may have sought “to kill two birds with one stone”, Umland said.
The Kremlin has strongly denied responsibility.
Source: CNA
