The Wall Street Journal published an investigation into the Nord Stream gas pipelines explosion in September 2022, which alleges that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the operation and later tried to cancel it after the CIA found out about it.
The Wall Street Journal writes about this with reference to sources.
According to the publication, the idea of the operation appeared in May 2022. According to participants, it cost about USD 300,000 and involved the use of a small chartered yacht with a crew of six.
The WSJ reports that the operation was led by an unnamed general with experience in special operations who reported directly to then-Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi. The general also involved in coordination several officers with experience in organizing high-risk covert operations against russia. Among them was former intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi.
According to the WSJ, President Zelenskyy initially verbally agreed to the operation plan, but after the CIA intervened he ordered it to be stopped. He conveyed this order to Zaluzhnyi, but he allegedly ignored it.
In response to questions from the publication, Zaluzhnyi said that he did not have any information about this operation, and any assumptions about his participation were "just a provocation." He also emphasized that the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have a mandate to conduct foreign missions, so he could not participate in them.
The WSJ adds that in September 2022, the operation participants chartered the 50-foot pleasure yacht Andromeda in the German port city of Rostock on the Baltic Sea. According to Ukrainian officers and persons, familiar with the German investigation, the yacht was rented through a Polish travel agency set up by Ukrainian intelligence to cover financial transactions nearly a decade ago.
At the site of the explosion, divers worked in pairs, laying explosives at depth.
"Working in the pitch black of the icy water, they worked with a powerful explosive known as HMX, which was connected to timer detonators. A small amount of light explosive would have been enough to rupture the high pressure pipes," the article said.
The WSJ also notes that the participants in the operation discussed the possible cancellation of the operation due to bad weather: "Unfavorable weather conditions forced the crew to make an unscheduled stop in the Swedish port of Sandhamn. One of the divers accidentally dropped an explosive device on the seabed. The crew briefly discussed whether to abort the operation due to bad weather, but the storm soon subsided, two people familiar with the operation said.
Earlier, Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur stated that russia may try to divert attention from Ukraine with incidents on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Meanwhile, Germany has issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man for undermining Nord Stream.
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