The Daily Telegraph

Pro-kyiv team blew up Nord Stream, says West

Mystery over attackers’ nationalit­y but suggestion is that it was an ‘off the books’ act by proxy force

- By Josie Ensor and Nick Allen

A pro-ukrainian group carried out last year’s attack on the Nord Stream pipeline using a yacht rented from Poland, intelligen­ce reviewed by the West suggests. The two pipelines were blown up in September by deep-sea explosions labelled “sabotage” by Nato. The incident had been variously blamed on Moscow and Kyiv. The New York

Times, quoting US officials, said there was a possibilit­y the attack might have been conducted by a proxy force with connection­s to the Kyiv government.

A PRO-UKRAINIAN group carried out the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline using a yacht rented from Poland, new intelligen­ce reviewed by Western government­s suggests .

The two pipelines were blown up by deep-sea explosions last September in an attack that spewed gas into the Baltic Sea and was labelled by Nato as “an act of sabotage”.

The incident had been variously blamed on Moscow, Kyiv and – in one more outlandish theory – the CIA, making it one of the most consequent­ial unsolved mysteries of Russia’s year-old war in Ukraine.

However, leaks from a new intelligen­ce review point the finger for the first time at opponents of Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.

The New York Times, quoting US officials, reported yesterday that there was no indication President Volodymyr Zelensky or any of his aides ordered the operation.

The officials left open the possibilit­y that it might have been conducted “off the books” by a proxy force with connection­s to the Ukrainian government or its security services.

German media, citing findings from the country’s investigat­ive authoritie­s, reported yesterday that the attack was likely carried out by a six-strong team, including a captain, two divers, two diving assistants and a doctor.

Their nationalit­ies were not known and they were said to have used fake passports, according to the reporting by reputable outlets including ARD and Die Zeit. “Officials who have reviewed the intelligen­ce said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combinatio­n of the two. US officials said no American or British nationals were involved,” The New York Times report added.

The report refers to the group as “proukraini­an” but does not specify whether its members are Ukrainian.

The review “does not specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation,” according to the officials. The operation began with a yacht rented in Poland by a company owned by two Ukrainians, according to the report. The equipment used for the explosions arrived by delivery truck at the German port of Rostock and was picked up there in early September.

The boat reportedly then went to Wieck auf dem Darß, and then the Danish island of Christians­ø.

When the boat was delivered back to the rental company it reportedly had traces of explosives in the cabin. There was later a tip-off to a Western intelligen­ce agency, according to the report.

Russia responded yesterday by calling for an independen­t internatio­nal investigat­ion into the incident.

Four deep-sea explosions on the pipeline, using the equivalent to 100kg of dynamite, resulted in what was probably one of the largest-ever single releases of methane gas. A five-mile shipping exclusion zone had to be set up, while the estimated cost of repairing the pipelines started at $500million. In the months that followed, investigat­ors combed through debris and analysed explosives residue recovered from the bed of the Baltic Sea, but failed to reach any conclusion as to the perpetrato­r.

European officials have publicly said they believe the operation that targeted Nord Stream was probably state sponsored, because of the sophistica­tion with which the perpetrato­rs planted and detonated the explosives on the floor of the Baltic Sea without being detected.

In internatio­nal security circles, some experts have suggested it cannot be ruled out that it could also be a “false flag” operation, with the traces of explosives deliberate­ly left to point to Ukraine as the culprit. However, Ukraine and its allies have been seen by many Western officials as having the most logical potential motive to attack the pipelines.

They have long decried it as a national security threat because it allows Russia to easily sell gas to Europe. A senior aide to Mr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Kyiv was “absolutely not involved” and has no informatio­n about what happened.

“Without a doubt, Ukraine is absolutely not involved in the excesses on the pipelines,” Mykhailo Podolyak said in a statement. “It does not make the slightest bit of sense.”

He added that Ukraine has no informatio­n about exactly who was involved.

“Starting from the first day of constructi­on on the pipelines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, Ukraine repeatedly drew the attention of its Western partners to the sharply growing strategic risks for the security of Europe carried by the realisatio­n of this project,” Mr Podolyak said.

Russia, which first accused the UK and later the US of being responsibl­e for the sabotage, said the reporting added impetus to the need for an internatio­nal investigat­ion into the incident.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, a Russian deputy UN envoy, said he planned to call a vote in the UN Security Council by the end of March on its draft resolution asking Secretary-general Antonio Guterres to establish such an inquiry.

Maria Zakharova, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoma­n, said those responsibl­e for leaks to the media wanted to divert the public’s attention and avoid a proper investigat­ion.

American officials reportedly discussed the intelligen­ce with their European counterpar­ts, who have taken the lead in investigat­ing the attack.

Authoritie­s in Germany, Sweden and Denmark have opened investigat­ions into the incident. A spokeswoma­n for the German government said it had “taken note” of the reports.

Ulf Kristersso­n, Sweden’s prime minister, declined to comment.

Asked whether there are indication­s that pro-ukrainian actors were responsibl­e, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters: “Germany, Sweden and Denmark... have already opened investigat­ions into what happened with the Nord Stream II Pipeline and those investigat­ions are not closed.”

Jens Stoltenber­g, the Nato secretaryg­eneral, echoed the remarks, saying it would be “wrong to speculate”.

Since the attack, Europe has further cut its energy imports from Russia. Moscow this week called for all Nord Stream stakeholde­rs to decide its fate.

Any suggestion of Ukrainian involvemen­t, whether direct or indirect, could upset the delicate relationsh­ip between Ukraine and Germany, souring support among a German public that has swallowed high energy prices in the name of solidarity.

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