A Ukrainian special forces operative was behind the September 2022 attack on the Nord Stream pipeline, sources claim – sabotaging a key energy artery from Russia to the West.
Ukraine has always denied being behind the pipeline explosion, which sent gas bubbling to the surface of the Baltic Sea and disrupted Russian energy supplies to Germany.
President Volodomyr Zelensky said his country was not behind the explosion.
“Ukraine has done nothing like that. I would never act like that,” Zelensky said.
Blame was initially placed on the US, Russia, the Ukrainian secret services and an unnamed businessman in Ukraine. All three countries have vehemently denied responsibility.
The strongest suspicion has long been directed at Ukraine, which would benefit most from Russia closing off its valuable energy outlet. The Washington Post that a decorated special forces colonel coordinated the attack.
Roman Chervinsky, 48, allegedly coordinated the operation to blow up the pipeline, sources claim
Sources told The Washington Post that a Ukrainian team was responsible for carrying out the mysterious Nord Stream pipeline explosions in September 2022.
The explosions knocked out three of the four sections of the pipelines, effectively destroying the main energy link between Russia and the West.
Roman Chervinsky, 48, led a group that plotted to destroy the pipeline, the sources said.
Chervinsky organized logistics and support for a team of six, who rented a sailboat under false identities and used deep-sea diving equipment to plant explosive charges on the gas pipelines.
Chervinsky did not plan the operation, the sources said: He reported to senior Ukrainian officials, who ultimately reported to General Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military officer.
Zelensky was deliberately left out of the loop, according to a CIA report shared by Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, on the Discord chat platform.
Teixeira, 21, was arrested in April for leaking the material and is being tried for sharing national secrets.
According to his document, the CIA reported: “All those involved in the planning and execution reported directly to (defense chief) Zaluzhny, so Zelensky would not have known about it.”
The pipeline was blown up in September 2022, dramatically limiting sales of Russian gas
Chervinsky is currently in prison in Kiev after being arrested in April this year and charged with abuse of power.
He tried to trick a Russian pilot into defecting in July 2022, and his actions allegedly gave away the coordinates of a Ukrainian airfield, prompting a Russian missile attack that killed one soldier and injured 17 others.
Chervinsky denied he was behind the pipeline sabotage The Washington Post he was smeared.
“All speculation about my involvement in the attack on Nord Stream is being spread by Russian propaganda without any basis,” he said.
Chervinsky added: “I have dedicated my entire life to the defense of Ukraine.”
Germany’s Federal Criminal Investigation Office (BKA) has been investigating the Andromeda – a yacht chartered by a Polish company from the northern German port of Rostock just weeks before the explosions took place.
German investigators have now turned their attention to the Andromeda (pictured) – a yacht chartered by a Polish company from the northern German port of Rostock just weeks before the explosions took place.
The yacht (photo) was found with traces of military-grade explosives that could be deployed underwater
Andromeda is said to have moored in the days leading up to the sabotage in the marina of Christianso, a small Danish island northeast of Bornholm and close to where the three bombs went off.
The yacht was found with traces of ‘military and underwater deployable’ explosives.
The theory suggests that five men and a woman arrived in Germany with fake Bulgarian and Romanian passports before using the yacht as a base to deploy trained divers to plant the bombs about 70 meters below sea level.
According to the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, German investigators have argued that the attacks would have required help from state security services and claim to have found evidence that could implicate Ukraine.
The complex path would lead to a shell company, a travel agency, founded by two Ukrainians in Warsaw.