As the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline came to the fore again, the German media revealed new details.
The newspaper Die Zeit, in a special investigation with German Channel 1 on Tuesday, revealed that German investigators found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea a boat that was used to mine the Nord Stream gas pipeline, rented by two Ukrainians from a company based in Poland.
Team of 6 people
However, investigators still have not found the customer of the booby trap operation.
The investigation also showed that the operation was carried out by a team of 6 people, 5 men and a woman, this is the captain of the ship, two divers, two diver assistants and a doctor. These explosives were transported on a chartered steamer.
Sent back without proper cleaning
At the same time, the ship sailed from the port of Rostock, Germany, on September 6, and before that, the weapons were delivered to the port by trucks.
The ship was then returned without being properly cleaned, causing investigators to find traces of explosives on it.
Ukrainian special forces team
In addition, Western intelligence told the Europeans that a group of Ukrainian special forces was responsible for the explosion last fall, according to the publication, which says that investigators from the United States, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Germany are participating in the investigation.
Die Zeit pointed out that investigators do not rule out the hypothesis that there is evidence of a deliberate planting of Ukraine, but this does not prove anything yet.
Pro-Ukrainian group
It comes after The New York Times reported earlier Tuesday that new intelligence scrutinized by U.S. officials indicates a pro-Ukrainian group, likely made up of Ukrainians or Russians, carried out an attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the past. year, but intelligence did not find any information about this. So far, there are no conclusive results.
However, officials said there was no evidence that Zelenskiy or his closest aides were involved in the operation or that they were acting on instructions from any Ukrainian government official, Reuters reported.
“Does not lead to definitive conclusions”
The newspaper reported that the intelligence review indicated that the perpetrators of the attacks were opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin, “but did not indicate the members of the group, the plan of the operation, or who financed it.”
It also added that U.S. officials “refused to disclose the nature of the intelligence information, how it was obtained, or any details about the strength of the evidence contained therein. They stated that this does not lead to definitive conclusions.”
It is noteworthy that the September 2022 attacks on NATO and US gas pipelines were described as “sabotage”, while Moscow blamed the West for this. Neither party provided evidence.
