According to leaked US intelligence, a pro-Ukrainian group may have been responsible for the September 2022 attacks on the gas pipelines. The Nord Stream pipelines supply Russian energy to Europe, and the explosions took place on September 26 in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. While caution has been urged by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, a New York Times report has revealed that intelligence reviewed by United States officials found a pro-Kyiv group may be behind the attacks. However, no official Ukrainian involvement has been pointed to. The attacks became a flashpoint between the West and Russia after last year’s Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Stoltenberg has called for ongoing national investigations to be finalised before making any further statements about who was behind the attacks. Both Sweden and Denmark have concluded that the blasts were deliberate, but neither country has said who might be responsible. Russia, which has previously blamed the West, has demanded a transparent investigation in which it also wants to participate. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has suggested that the media reports were a coordinated bid to divert attention and questioned how US officials could assume anything about the attacks without an investigation.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov has said that the media reports were “a little bit strange” and had “nothing to do” with the Ukrainian government. Reznikov has also stated that he is not worried about the prospect of the media reports weakening support for Ukraine. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has warned against “jumping to conclusions” and has said that it is important to make a clear distinction between whether it was a Ukrainian group, whether it may have happened at Ukrainian orders, or a pro-Ukrainian group acting without knowledge of the government. Pistorius has also suggested that it could have been a “false flag operation staged to blame Ukraine”.
Germany’s federal prosecutor has confirmed that investigators had raided a ship in January that may have been used to transport the explosives used to blow up the pipelines, but said there was no reliable information yet on motives, perpetrators, or whether the attack was state-sponsored. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has told reporters that there is “no suspicion against employees of the German company that rented out the ship”. Borrell has also stated that as long as investigations into Nord Stream blasts are ongoing, conclusions cannot be drawn.
Germany’s ARD broadcaster and Zeit newspaper have reported that the operation to place explosives on the seabed was carried out by six people, five men and one woman, who used forged passports. They transported explosives on a yacht rented from a German charter company by a Poland-based firm owned by Ukrainian citizens, according to the report and prosecutors.