German Investigators: Pro-Ukrainian Group Blew Up Russia’s Nord Stream Pipelines 

German Investigators: Pro-Ukrainian Group Blew Up Russia’s Nord Stream Pipelines 

Days after Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with President Joe Biden in the White House, the German state media outlets published a report claiming a pro-Ukrainian group was responsible for destroying the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

According to a report jointly published by the German state TV ARD, Die Zeit newspaper, and other public broadcasters, six pro-Ukrainian saboteurs sailed the high seas in a rented yacht to carry out the blasts that destroyed the Russian pipelines in late September. The report cited official German investigators and claimed no evidence tying the Ukrainian government or any other state actor to the incident.

The German persecutors are reported to have located the yacht used in operation and recovered traces of explosives used in the blasts. The identity of the perpetrators or the masterminds has not yet been made public.

German weekly Die Zeit reported Tuesday:

German investigative agencies have reportedly made a headway in solving the attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. According to the joint research by the ARD [Berlin studio], the ARD political show “Kontraste,” SWR and DIE ZEIT, it was possible largely to reconstruct how and when the blasts were carried out. The evidence points to Ukraine. But, investigators have not yet found any clue as to who might have ordered the attack. (…)

According to information available to the ARD [Berlin] studio, Kontraste, SWR and ZEIT, the investigators managed to identify the boat that was supposedly used in the secret operation. It is apparently a yacht rented from a Poland-based company, reportedly owned by two Ukrainians. The investigation shows that the secret maritime operation was carried out by a team of six people. It is said to have been five men and one woman. The group consisted of a captain, two divers, two diving assistants and a doctor, who reportedly brought the explosives to the scene [of the blasts] and planted them there. The nationality of the perpetrators is said to be unclear. The attackers used professionally forged passports, which are said to have been used, among other things, to rent the boat.

The investigations show that the team sailed out of Rostock (Eastern German port) on September 6, 2022. The equipment for the clandestine operation is reported to have been delivered beforehand to the port in a delivery truck. The research uncovered that the investigators subsequently managed to locate the boat again the following day in Wiek [a port in the eastern German island of Rügen] and later on the Danish island of Christiansø, northeast of Bornholm. The yacht was then returned to the owner without cleaning [the traces of the explosives]. According to the [media] research, investigators recovered traces of explosives from the table in the cabin. According to information available to ARD [Berlin] studio, Kontraste, SWR and DIE ZEIT, a Western secret service is said to have tipped off European partner agencies in the autumn, i.e. shortly after the destruction, in which they blamed that a Ukrainian commando team was responsible for the explosions.

Berlin Remains “Cautious,” Won’t Rule Russian “False Flag” Narrative

According to media reports, the German government was “cautious” about pinning the blame on Kyiv based on the latest revelations and still considered that Kremlin could have carried a “false flag operation” of blowing up its pipeline — a lucrative source of revenue for the Russian wartimes economy.

“Speaking on the sidelines of a European Union defense ministers meeting, Pistorius said some experts also had raised the possibility of a so-called false flag operation by a group pretending to be Ukrainian,” the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

On Thursday, Moscow dismissed German media claims and blamed the West, particularly the U.S., for the incident. The BBC reported:

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the report a “co-ordinated fake news media campaign” and told the state news agency Ria-Novosti those who attacked the pipeline “clearly… want to divert attention.”

Russia has blamed the West for the explosions and called on the UN Security Council to independently investigate them.

Based on the sophistication of the covert operation and the type of explosives, initial German investigations had pointed to unnamed “state actors” for the blasts.

The Nord Stream blasts knocked out Russia as the main natural gas supplier to Germany and western Europe. Before President Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last February, Russian exports amounted to over 55 percent of Germany’s total gas demand.

[Excerpts from the German media reports translated by the author]

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