US intelligence now claims a pro-Ukrainian group sabotaged the Nord Stream pipeline
- Officials won’t say the name of a group or who paid
- They said they thought Zelensky and his government weren’t involved
- No evidence of US or UK involvement in September 2022 bombing
A pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on Nord Stream pipelines last year, US intelligence agencies have determined, according to a bombshell report released on Tuesday.
US officials told The New York Times there was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his senior officials were involved in the September 2022 attack, or that the group acted under government direction. Ukrainian.
The Nord Stream gas pipelines link Russia with Western Europe, providing Moscow with a direct route for its profitable natural gas business. The surprise attack damaged two of the pipelines – Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 – in the Danish part of the Baltic Sea.
In the ensuing outrage, nearly every government found itself blamed: Russia, Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Britain and the United States.
Satellite image shows gas from Nord Stream pipeline bubbling in water after bombing in Baltic Sea
Western allies blamed Russia, Moscow blamed the United States and Britain. US officials said no US or UK nationals were involved.
White House spokesman John Kirby declined to comment on the report, saying Germany, Denmark and Sweden were still investigating the blast, which he called “sabotage”.
“There are three investigations underway at the moment. And they are not finished. As far as I know, none of these three countries have made public what they found,’ he told reporters on a conference call on Tuesday.
Last month, the White House denied a report that US Navy divers planted remote-controlled explosives that destroyed parts of the pipeline.
US intelligence officials have said they believe the real perpetrators were opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But officials did not say which group was behind the attack, who led it or who paid for it.
Officials also stressed that their conclusions were not 100%, leaving open the possibility that the operation was carried out informally by a proxy force with ties to the Ukrainian government or its security services, reported. the Times.
All four leaks are in the Baltic Sea off the Danish island of Bornholm. Two of the leaks were in the Swedish exclusive economic zone, and the other two in the Danish one
This photo released on September 30, 2022 by the Danish Defense Command and taken on September 29, 2022 shows one of four gas leaks on one of the damaged Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea
Ukraine has long opposed the pipeline, which would easily deliver Russian gas to European customers. Russia is one of the top three oil producers in the world. Moscow is heavily dependent on oil and natural gas revenues, which in 2021 accounted for 45% of the Russian federal budget.
At the time of the attack, the United States called it sabotage.
The sophisticated attack took place underwater, near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.
Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, as the two pipelines are called, stretch 760 miles from the northwest coast of Russia to Lubmin in northeast Germany.
The first cost over $12 billion to build and was completed in 2011.
US officials have said they do not believe Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government was involved
Authorities in Sweden and Denmark investigated the four holes drilled into the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines following underwater attacks.
While the leaks were in international waters, two of them were in the Danish Exclusive Economic Zone and two in Swedish waters.
The pipelines have been at the center of geopolitical tensions as Russia cut off gas supplies to Europe in alleged retaliation for Western sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Although the pipelines were not in service, they contained gas before they fell victim to the apparent sabotage.
