US Intel Says Pro-Ukraine Group Behind Nord Stream Gas Pipeline Attacks, Kyiv Denies: Report
US officials, however, said there was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his top aides were connected to the incident.
US officials said it received new intelligence suggesting that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, according to a report in the New York Times. Ukraine has, however, denied any involvement in last September's attack on the pipelines, which were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany.
The undersea blasts, which happened in the midst of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark in the Baltic Sea. At least 50 m (164 ft) of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was destroyed in the blast.
While the exact cause of the September 26 blasts was unknown, both Sweden and Denmark had concluded that it was a deliberate act.
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On the other hand, German investigators have claimed the attack on the pipelines was carried out by a team of six people using a yacht that had been hired by a company registered in Poland and owned by two Ukrainian citizens, according to newspaper Die Zeit.
However, the German paper says investigators have not found any evidence as to who ordered the destruction. It also underscored that there might be the possibility of a false flag operation that was intended to point towards Ukraine.
US officials, however, said there was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his top aides were connected to the incident or that the alleged group was acting at the behest of any government officials, NYT reported.
"Without a doubt, Ukraine is absolutely not involved in the excesses on the pipelines. It does not make the slightest bit of sense," Mykhailo Podolyak, a political adviser to Zelensky, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Russia has demanded an independent international inquiry in response to the NYT report. Russia's deputy envoy to the UN said Moscow would call for a vote at the UN Security Council (UNSC) on whether to launch an inquiry, The Guardian reported.
Russian gas deliveries had been suspended before the blasts. While Russia shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline in August last year, saying it needed maintenance, Nord Stream 2 was never put into service.
Russia has been supplying huge amounts of natural gas to Western Europe for decades. But since it invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, most EU countries drastically reduced their reliance on Russian energy.
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