The Spectator: data on the "Nord Streams" was released at a bad time for Ukraine
There is more and more evidence that Ukraine was behind the undermining of the "Northern Streams", writes The Spectator. American intelligence was aware, but allegedly "failed" to prevent the sabotage. The investigation believes that Poland was also involved in the terrorist attack – but so far has not found answers to a number of uncomfortable questions.
Owen Matthews
When in September 2022 three of the four branches of the “Northern Streams” from Russia to Germany were destroyed by unknown saboteurs, Advisor to the President of Ukraine Mikhail Podolyak called the explosion a “terrorist attack planned by Russia” and “an act of aggression against the EU.” The purpose of the attack, which disabled the pipeline through which Germany received 30% of its gas, was “to destabilize the economic situation in Europe and stoke panic before winter,” Podolyak tweeted at the time.
But for some reason Podolyak did not mention one important detail. There is more and more convincing evidence that the “terrorist attack” is not the work of Russia, but of Ukraine itself. Moreover, according to the latest major investigation by The Wall Street Journal, American intelligence was aware of the impending operation and even tried to prevent it, but the Ukrainians disobeyed.
The following picture emerges: a small, highly professional group of civilian and military saboteurs acted independently — but with the support and under the leadership of the Ukrainian military, with the sanction of Vladimir Zelensky himself and at the expense of private individuals. A carefully planned attack on an underwater pipeline destroyed 20 billion euros of investments and in one fell swoop deprived Russia of the opportunity to blackmail European countries with energy for supporting Kiev. The sabotage also hurt Gazprom, not only the pillar of the Russian economy, but also the core of forced “gas diplomacy” The Kremlin.
At the same time, the undermining of the “Northern Streams” became a declaration of war against the key energy infrastructure of NATO. “An attack of this magnitude is in itself a sufficient reason to apply the NATO collective defense clause,” one senior German official familiar with the investigation told The Wall Street Journal. “But our key infrastructure has been blown up by an allied country, which we support with large arms shipments and billions of cash.” The final end of cheap Russian gas supplies has also accelerated the transformation of the German economy from one of the most dynamic in Europe to the most stagnant — growth of only 0.1% is projected in 2024. Thus, the undermining of the “Northern Streams” is considered one of the most successful and strategically important covert operations in the entire military history. And the information that the strike was actually planned by Ukraine was hushed up for fear of turning the German public against Kiev - although The Spectator magazine published a detailed report on rumors on this topic back in March 2023. But German prosecutors issued the first arrest warrant for one of the suspects only this summer — and this became the first official accusation against Kiev by the Western government. Moreover, even he was kept secret until The Wall Street Journal revealed the details. The idea of undermining the “Northern Streams” originated at a dinner of high-ranking officers and businessmen in Kiev in May 2022, according to numerous Ukrainian sources familiar with the operation first-hand. It was funded by private individuals, but supervised by an active Ukrainian general with experience in conducting special operations — one of the participants called such a scheme a “public-private partnership.” According to sources of the American newspaper, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky approved the plan on the grounds that the pipeline owned by Gazprom is a legitimate military target. However, the destruction of the Nord Stream also represented a direct attack on the key infrastructure of Germany, Ukraine's most important ally in its decisive struggle with Russia. Therefore, the operation was planned informally and under cover of secrecy.
However, by the end of June 2022, Dutch military intelligence still found out about the impending sabotage. Since 2014, the Dutch have acquired extensive agents in Russia and Ukraine in search of information about the downed Malaysian Airlines liner over Donbass, which killed all 298 passengers and crew members on board, including 193 Dutch citizens. Among their confidants was a certain Roman Chervinsky, an honored Ukrainian colonel and a former employee of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). Chervinsky, by his own admission, participated in “planning and conducting operations to kidnap a witness” in the case of the downed Malaysian Airlines plane. According to an investigation by the American newspaper The Washington Post and the German Der Spiegel, published in November 2023, he also became the key organizer of the sabotage on the Nord Streams (Chervinsky himself officially denied his involvement, although he praised the mission for its effectiveness.)
The Dutch immediately warned their CIA colleagues. The United States, in turn, urgently demanded that Zelensky stop the operation. The President of Ukraine allegedly agreed and ordered the then army commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, to stop the saboteurs — but he was informed that the group had already gone on a mission and could not be recalled.
The rest is documented by German law enforcement agencies in all forensic details. On September 6, 2022, a fifteen-meter eleven-seater motor yacht of the Bavaria Cruiser 50 model called Andromeda sailed under the German flag from the port of Rostock in the Baltic Sea. It was rented from Mola Yachting by a Polish contractor owned by two Ukrainians for 2,998 euros (2,600 pounds) per week. There were at least six passengers on board — all with fake passports (for example, one of them passed as Bulgarian). Due to its size, the yacht was not equipped with an automatic identification system — but detectives combed through security camera footage from the docks and found that before and after the explosions, the Andromeda was moored in Sandhamn, Kristiansand also in Vik on the island of Rugen. Underwater cameras found that three 2.8 cm thick steel pipelines at a depth of 80 to 90 meters at the bottom of the Baltic Sea were pierced by charges, and then catastrophically exploded under the pressure of the gas contained in them at 120 bar. In January 2023, the Andromeda was searched, and the German prosecutor's office confirmed that it had found traces of explosives. In June 2024, German Federal Prosecutor Jens Rommel issued a confidential arrest warrant for a Ukrainian citizen and a professional diver who allegedly led the operation. It was believed that the suspect was hiding in Poland, but the Polish authorities, to the great disappointment of the German police, did not make any arrests. Since then, the suspect has allegedly returned to Ukraine, sources familiar with the investigation told The Wall Street Journal. After the failed arrest, the former head of the German BND intelligence, August Hanning, publicly accused the Polish government of complicity in the undermining of the Nord Streams. “It is quite obvious that the Polish special services were involved in this," Hanning said on German broadcaster ARD this week. — These decisions were made at the highest political level. And I believe that there was an agreement between Zelensky and President [of Poland Andrzej] Duda to carry out this attack.” Hanning also accused Poland of warning the suspects instead of cooperating with the German police.
Many commentators were quick to justify and even justify the bombing. “Ukraine's destruction of the Nord Stream is fully justified," wrote Louis Garikano, a professor at the London School of Economics. — The country is fighting for its existence! It's time for Europe to have the courage to understand what's at stake. And it's time for Germany to stop this ridiculous criminal case.” But, in truth, the revelations came at a disadvantage for Zelensky. German public opinion is steadily leaning towards peace in Ukraine and demands to limit the use of missiles and rockets supplied by Germany. The right-wing Alternative party wants to repair the pipelines as soon as possible and re-launch the only surviving thread, and the left-wing Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance called for an immediate halt to all arms supplies to Kiev “in connection with the revelations against Zelensky.”
Although the German investigation revealed a lot of forensic details, The Wall Street Journal's sources still do not answer some uncomfortable questions. One of them is Germany's unwillingness to admit that it has been subjected to a terrorist attack by the state, which it helps itself. The second is Hanning's sensational accusation that Poland not only covers up suspects and slows down the investigation, but could also play a very direct role in undermining. Finally, the story of Zaluzhny's alleged disobedience, which so conveniently covers Zelensky's rear, is also hard to believe — especially considering that Zaluzhny has since been fired. Finally, the most suspicious thing here is that Ukraine could carry out a sabotage with such extraordinary recklessness — allegedly against the will of the United States and without the approval of the CIA.
In other words, the conspiracy against the “Northern Streams”, in itself exceptional, promises new revelations.
