Caution and rejection of the US version of the perpetrators of the Nord Stream attack

The emergence of two inquiries into the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline which it targeted Ukrainian groups as perpetrators of the attack The events that took place last September have generated pushbacks and calls for caution in Ukraine and Germany, while Russia has denounced the versions as “investigative campaigns”. fake news“.

even if neither The New York Times nor did the German media (a newspaper and two radio stations; sources of the two versions of the bombing) claim that the government or Ukrainian intelligence were involved, both of which agreed to target pro-Ukrainian groups as possible perpetrators of the attack.

While American media did not provide details on how it happened, the German newspaper indicated that the attack was carried out four men and a woman aboard a yacht Hired by a Ukrainian company based in Poland.

According to this version, the suspects used fake passports to charter the boat, which left the German port of Rostock. The group consisted of a captain, two divers, two dive assistants and a medic.

Various Ukrainian officials have come out to deny both investigations. Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to President Zelensky, stated that “in no way was Ukraine involvedwhile Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov rejected suggestions that the attack may have been ordered from Kiev.

“It’s a kind of praise for our special forces, but that’s not our business,” he told reporters in Stockholm.

In Berlin, for his part, the reactions were one of caution and skepticism. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confessed to having read the news “with great interest”but he cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

“We have to clearly distinguish whether it is a Ukrainian group that acted on orders from Ukraine or (…) without the knowledge of the government,” he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of EU defense ministers, Pistorius said some experts had also raised the possibility that the operation could have been carried out by a group posing as Ukrainians.

“It wouldn’t be the first time in history that something like this has happened,” the German minister said. “As such, I refrain from drawing premature conclusions“, complete.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby declined to comment on the report Tuesday. The New York Timesnoting that the investigations of Denmark, Germany and Sweden they are still active.

“We have to let these investigations conclude,” Kirby said. “And only then should we look at what follow-up actions might or might not be appropriate.”

For Russia everything is “fake news”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov described the information that appeared in the media about Ukraine’s alleged involvement in the Nord Stream explosions as a coordinated operation of “fake news” intended to cover up the organizers of the attack.

“The masterminds behind the terrorist attack clearly want to divert attention,” Peskov said in statements reported by state news agency RIA Novosti.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his officials they blamed the United States to organize the pipeline explosions, which they described as a terrorist attack.

Peskov again stressed that Russia was denied access to investigative evidence. He called for a transparent international investigation. The Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines have long been target of US criticism and some of their allies, who have warned they pose a risk to Europe’s energy security by increasing dependence on Russian gas.

The investigation that points against the United States

although both The New York Times like the German media coincide in pointing out the perpetrators of the attack on Nord Stream to the pro-Ukrainian groups, the journalist Seymour Hirsch published an investigation a few weeks ago in which He assured that the attack was carried out by the United States.with the collaboration of Norway.

According to Hirsch, who made his name for his investigations into the My Lai massacre in the Vietnam War, the operation was led by an elite dive unit of the US Navy taking advantage of a routine exercise conducted by NATO in June 2022 in the Baltic Sea.

According to this version, explosives were placed with the possibility of be detonated remotelya crucial requirement of the US government, as their involvement had to be fully covered up as the action would have been considered a declaration of war by Moscow.

So far, no official has publicly commented on Hirsch’s investigation. The reporter contacted White House and CIA spokesmen, who denied his claims.

Source: AP