The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) warned the Ukrainian government last summer not to attack the Nord Stream gas pipelines after receiving detailed information on a Ukrainian plot to disrupt a key energy link between Russia and Europe, as stated by officials involved with the exchange.
Dutch military intelligence alerted the CIA last year about an alleged Ukrainian attempt to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines three months before they were attacked.
Dutch, German Intelligence Reports Warned About Nord Stream Attacks
The Netherlands’ military intelligence agency, MIVD, received information about an “imminent attack” on Nord Stream from an unnamed source in Ukraine in June, three months before a series of underwater explosions hit the pipes last September, based on a joint investigation published Tuesday by Dutch and German news outlets.
General Valery Zaluzhny, the head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was in charge of the operation targeting Nord Stream, which entailed a small group of divers travelling on a sailing boat and was intended to take place in the middle of June 2022, according to the plan that MIVD obtained.
According to reports, the Dutch intelligence agencies then alerted the US, which contacted Ukraine via the CIA to warn them off. While the CIA took the threat seriously, these officials expressed doubts about Ukraine’s ability to carry out such an assault, which would require planting explosive charges deep beneath the Baltic Sea.
Following this, the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which connect Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea, were targeted by two blasts last September, which Swedish and Danish officials deemed an act of deliberate sabotage.
Exclusive: The CIA warned the Ukrainian government not to attack the Nord Stream gas pipelines last summer after it obtained detailed information about a Ukrainian plot to destroy a main energy connection between Russia and Europe. https://t.co/nIxmaQaMNu
— WSJ Politics (@WSJPolitics) June 13, 2023
The plan reportedly involved Ukrainian officers using fake Estonian passports. A European official, at least some of those engaged in the attacks, used fake Bulgarian passports.
German investigators suspect that six people used fake passports to hire the Andromeda yacht, which transported the explosives and planted them on the Baltic Sea seafloor at three different places along the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. German investigators previously stated that they had matched traces of the same explosive material found on the exploded pipeline with residue inside the rented yacht’s cabin.
Suspected Nord Stream Attack by Pro-Ukrainian Group
According to reports, US intelligence authorities suspect that a “pro-Ukrainian group” was behind the Nord Stream 2 pipeline attack in September.
The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which have a combined capacity of 110 billion cubic metres, or more than half of Russia’s total gas export volume, are regarded as “Russia’s most important energy corridor,” and marked a significant reduction in pressure in September 2022.
The decline was triggered by a series of explosions that led to pipeline breaches, rendering them unusable, based on reports from Sweden and Denmark. According to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, the incident was an act of “sabotage.”
Ukraine was not behind a series of underwater explosions that crippled the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September, the country's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. https://t.co/hlMAT4Rhw9
— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) June 7, 2023
Ukraine Denies Responsibility
Ukraine has repeatedly denied involvement in the explosions. In March, the Ukrainian President’s spokesperson Mykhailo Podolyak dismissed allegations of responsibility for the attacks, saying, “Although I enjoy collecting amusing conspiracy theories about [the Ukrainian] government, I have to say: [Ukraine] has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about ‘pro-[Ukraine] sabotage groups.”
In a recent interview, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied any involvement in the incident. “I am president and I give orders accordingly,” Zelensky said. “Nothing of the sort has been done by Ukraine. I would never act that way.”
The pipelines were controversial even before the conflict in Ukraine began, raising concerns about Europe’s reliance on Russian gas. Both pipelines were not actively delivering gas to Europe at the time of the leaks, but they were still holding gas under pressure.
Russia’s Demand for a More Transparent Investigation
A senior Russian diplomat to the US said on Wednesday that a “transparent and objective” international investigation must be initiated to look into the explosions at the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines.
Andrey Ledenev, minister-counsellor at the embassy, commented on claims that the US allegedly advised Ukraine not to destroy the pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea, saying that the US participation in the explosions should also be “clarified.”