Berlin – German prosecutors have found “traces” Evidence that Ukrainians may have been involved in the explosions that blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 German media report Tuesday
Investigators identified a boat potentially used to transport a crew of six people, diving equipment and explosives in the Baltic Sea in early September. According to a joint investigation by German public broadcasters, charges were then imposed on the pipelines. ARD and SWR as well as newspapers die zeit,
German reports say the yacht was chartered from a company based in Poland that is “apparently owned by two Ukrainians.”
However, no clear evidence has yet been established as to who ordered the attack.
In its first reaction, the government of Ukraine dismissed the reports.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, denied that the Ukrainian government had any involvement in the pipeline attacks. “While I enjoy collecting amusing conspiracy theories about the Ukrainian government, I must say: Ukraine has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea disaster and no knowledge of ‘pro-Ukraine sabotage groups’ Podolic wrote in a tweet,
Three of the four pipes that make up the Nord Stream 1 and 2 undersea gas pipeline from Russia to Germany were destroyed by explosions last September. Germany, Sweden and Denmark launched an investigation into an incident that was soon established as a Case of “sabotage”.
German media report – which comes on top of the New York Times reports Tuesday who said that “intelligence suggests that a pro-Ukrainian group” sabotaged the pipelines – stressing that there is no evidence that Ukrainian officials ordered or were involved in the attack.
Any possible involvement by Kiev in the attack would strain relations between Ukraine and Germany, one of the most important suppliers of civilian and military aid to the country as it battles against a full-scale invasion by Russia.
According to an investigation by German public prosecutors cited by German outlets, the team that placed explosive charges on the pipelines consisted of five men – a captain, two divers and two assistant divers – as well as a female doctor, all of them of unknown nationality and false Working with passport. The report said they left on September 6 on a chartered boat from the German port of Rostock.
It added that the yacht was later returned to the owner “in unclean condition” and that “on the tables in the cabin, investigators were able to detect traces of explosives.”
But the reports also said investigators could not exclude that the possible link with Ukraine was part of a “false flag” operation aimed at shifting blame to Kiev for the attacks.
Contacted by POLITICO, a spokesman for the German government who declined to comment referred to an ongoing investigation by the German Prosecutor General’s Office.
The government spokesman also said: “A few days ago, Sweden, Denmark and Germany informed the United Nations Security Council that investigations were ongoing and that no results had yet been reached.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed reports of Ukraine’s involvement in the Nord Stream bombings, saying Post on the Telegram social media site that they were intended to divert attention from earlier, baseless, reports That America destroyed the pipelines.
Veronika Melkozerova in Kiev contributed reporting.