New intelligence seen by US officials suggests that a pro-Ukraine group attacked the Nord Stream 2 pipelines that transport natural gas from Russia to countries in Western Europe. The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
U.S. officials told the newspaper that there was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi or his top aides were involved or that the Ukrainian government directed the attacks on the pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea.
The United States and NATO initially considered the September 2022 attack an act of sabotage, discounting a natural disaster such as an earthquake.
From Ukraine to Russia to Britain to the United States, there has been speculation about who was to blame.
Ukraine, which was attacked by Russia on February 24, 2022, immediately came under suspicion because it has opposed the project for years, considering it a national security threat because it would push Russia into Europe. would allow gas sales to continue while preventing Kiev from collecting. Profit Transfer Fees.
The Times said the new intelligence review sheds little light on who carried out the attack, who was involved in it, or who financed it.
Intel suggests, however, that the perpetrators opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin and were likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals — or a combination of the two.
Officials told the outlet that no Americans or Britons were involved in the breach.
There is no evidence that the Russian government was involved in this attack.
It was initially believed that the attack was state-sponsored due to its sophistication, which required explosives to be placed below the surface of the Baltic and detonated while avoiding detection.
The explosives were planted with the help of experienced divers who did not appear to be connected to any military or intelligence services, the report said, raising the possibility that the saboteurs had used special state-sponsored weapons in the past. received training
Russia blamed the British navy for the attack, a claim London accused Moscow of inventing.
Last month, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hirsch alleged in a report that US Navy divers planted bombs that destroyed the pipelines.
Hirsch, 85, who won a Pulitzer in 1968 for exposing the My Lai massacre of Vietnamese civilians by U.S. troops, said the Navy carried out the operation under cover of a NATO exercise.
Allegation denied a signal from the Pentagon and Skepticism from other geopolitical experts and observers.
White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the report, referring reporters to the governments of Germany, Sweden and Denmark, which have launched investigations into the incident.
