DW3 min View Original 06.07.2024July 6, 2024 The "Ukrainian group" was already developing plans to blow up gas pipelines in 2014, after Russia's annexation of Crimea, Welt am Sonntag writes, citing intelligence data.
The destruction of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines was planned much earlier than the start of the full-scale Russian military invasion of Ukraine , namely back in 2014, after Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. This was reported on Saturday, July 6, by the newspaper Welt am Sonntag, citing data from German and international investigations, as well as intelligence services, which the editorial board obtained.
It is indicated that the corresponding plans could have been developed at that time by a certain "Ukrainian group". "If the existence of long-term plans (to destroy the SP and SP-2 gas pipelines - Ed. ) on the part of the Ukrainian state is proven, this could have the most serious impact on the Germans' desire to support the Ukrainians," the publication says.
By 2014, the Nord Stream gas pipeline had already been in operation for two years, and the construction of Nord Stream 2 was at the planning stage, the authors recall.
Explosions at Nord Stream On September 26, 2022, the SP and SP-2 pipes were damaged as a result of underwater explosions recorded near the Danish island of Bornholm. The motive for this crime, as well as its perpetrator, are still unknown. Denmark and Sweden have closed their national investigations into the explosions. However, in Germany, the Federal Police and the Federal Criminal Office, on behalf of the Federal Prosecutor's Office, continue to work on this case , which is regarded as an act of sabotage . "The investigation is ongoing," the Welt am Sonntag newspaper quotes the Federal Prosecutor's Office of Germany as saying in this regard.
The central focus of the German investigation is the sailing yacht Andromeda, which was rented in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern at the time of the explosions. As a German official familiar with the investigation told journalists on condition of anonymity, new indications have recently emerged that six people on board the yacht may have been involved in the gas pipeline explosions.
Doubts about Ukraine's involvement However, the intelligence services have doubts about this. Thus, Gerhard Schindler, who headed the German intelligence service BND from 2011 to 2016, said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag: "The results of the investigation may lead to a Ukrainian group. But this does not mean that Ukraine was the customer . From the point of view of the intelligence services, many things indicate that this could have been a Russian operation under a false flag. They have such capabilities." As for the traces that lead to Ukraine, according to Schindler, they could have been left intentionally.
Immediately after the version about Andromeda's involvement in the Nord Stream explosions appeared in March 2023, the German tabloid Bild wrote about experts' serious doubts about its plausibility.
Journalists found out, in particular, that Andromeda, apparently, is too small to be used for such a large-scale sabotage. In addition, it is not equipped with special diving equipment that would allow explosives to be planted at a depth of 80 meters.
"To carry out three explosions underwater would require at least 600 to 900 kg of special military explosives. The yacht Andromeda does not have a crane to safely lower such a volume underwater," the publication emphasized.
Data from Polish intelligence services As Welt am Sonntag writes, Polish politicians and intelligence services also have doubts about Ukraine's involvement in the explosions at Nord Stream. In the summer of 2023, Polish intelligence services handed over to the BND a list of people who, according to their information, were connected to the terrorist attack on the pipelines and, as is assumed, had contacts with Moscow.
Polish intelligence services also claimed that the "Ukrainians" who rented the yacht "Andromeda" using fake passports were in fact Russian citizens. They deliberately left a false trail to discredit Ukraine, they believe in Poland.
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