Ukrainian presidency defends itself after Wall Street Journal revelations

This is the first time that an investigation has detailed the sabotage of Russian gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in 2022. According to the American daily, Ukraine is responsible, but kyiv on Thursday called this accusation “absolute nonsense”.

While Ukrainian forces claim new advances in the Kursk region, in Russian territory, in kyiv the authorities are accused of sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipeline, in the Baltic Sea. According to the revelations of the Wall Street Journalit is indeed Ukraine that is responsible for it and Volodymyr Zelensky was aware of it. The Ukrainian presidency, for its part, defended itself on Thursday, August 15, against this accusation by the American daily.

This is the first time that an investigation has detailed this audacious sabotage that has fueled speculation for almost two years. According to the American daily, which spoke with senior Ukrainian officers, the operation was born from a challenge launched over a drink between officers and businessmen. It was May 2022. Attacking the two pipelines that transport Russian gas to Europe and provide billions to the Kremlin’s war machine seemed like an excellent idea to them. The businessmen put up the money (a total of $300,000 was needed) and the military specialists in clandestine missions got to work.

Four months later, a sailboat was rented from the German port of Rostock, on the Baltic. On board were six people, half military, half civilian, experienced divers, including a woman in her thirties to make it look like a group of friends on a cruise. The crew took on board HMX explosive, a small quantity of which was enough to open the high-pressure pipes. They operated at a depth of 80 metres and in the early morning of 26 September, three powerful explosions ripped open the gas pipeline, which for a week would cause the sea to boil and release hundreds of thousands of tonnes of gas.

For the Wall Street Journalit was General Valery Zaluzhny, at the time commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, who supervised the operation. President Volodymyr Zelensky would have given his approval, of course. But when the CIA got wind of what was being prepared, it ordered him to stop everything. Sabotaging the gas pipeline would have worsened the energy crisis in Europe. Volodymyr Zelensky followed suit and gave the order to suspend the operation. Except that the crew was already on the sailboat.It’s too late“, Zaluzhniy allegedly replied to the head of state: “It’s like a torpedo, once you throw it at the enemy you can’t get it back“For its part, the German justice system, which has issued an arrest warrant against one of the divers present on the sailboat, is much more cautious about the direct involvement of Volodymyr Zelensky.

On Thursday, kyiv denied that it was behind the sabotage: Valery Zaluzhniy, now Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, which protects him from prosecution, said he knew nothing about it and that the Ukrainian armed forces were not authorized to carry out missions abroad anyway. Presidential adviser Mikhailo Podoliak, for his part, spoke of a “absolute nonsense“This operation, he said, was of no interest to Ukraine because kyiv risked alienating its Western allies. Two years later, the findings of the investigation could indeed chill both Washington and Berlin, the two biggest suppliers of funds and military equipment to Kiev.