a boat suspected of having been used in the sabotage of gas pipelines was raided in January

The investigation into the sabotage of two Nord Stream underwater gas pipelines in September 2022 is progressing. A boat suspected of having been used for the operation was searched in January as part of the investigation carried out in Germany on this operation, announced on Wednesday March 8, the German federal prosecutor’s office.

The latter specified that he “searches a ship from January 18 to 20, 2023”, suspecting that “the ship in question could have been used to transport explosive devices” used to blow up the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea on September 26, 2022.

Authors not yet identified

“The identity of the perpetrators and their motives are the subject of an ongoing investigation”, adds the prosecution, specifying that‘”it is not possible for the moment to make solid statements on this subject, in particular on the question of state management” of the sabotage operation.

A “pro-Ukrainian group” would be at the origin of the sabotage, writes Tuesday the New York Timesbased on information seen by US intelligence, but without the involvement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukraine was not involved in this spectacular sabotage which permanently cut the flow of Russian gas to Europe, replied the Ukrainian Minister of Defense.

Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the two pipelines have been at the heart of geopolitical tensions, stoked after Moscow’s decision to cut off gas supplies to Europe in alleged retaliation for Western sanctions. .