New intelligence reviewed by US authorities and revealed by The New York Times suggests that a "
pro-Ukrainian group
" may be responsible for the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, damaged by four underwater explosions last September.
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This new information would suggest that this group could be made up of “
opponents of Vladimir Putin
”, Russians and Ukrainians, without specifying which organization they belong to, nor naming their sponsors.
According to the daily, US authorities said they had "
no evidence
" that the Ukrainian government was directly involved in the operation, or that its participants acted under its direction.
They also stressed that they did not know "
many things about the perpetrators of the attack and their affiliation
".
The sabotage operation against these two gas pipelines which connect Russia to Germany passing under the Baltic, thus bypassing the Ukrainian distribution network, had been carried out on September 2022 when four explosive charges had damaged the two gas pipelines by more than 70 meters.
Intelligence suggests the charges were planted by experienced divers who "
did not appear to work for intelligence services
", not excluding that they may have received specialized military training in the past.
US officials have refused to disclose the nature of this intelligence, how it was collected, or even the reliability of the evidence it contains.
They leave open the possibility that the operation was carried out unofficially by an entity with ties to the Ukrainian government or its security services.
Read alsoNord Stream 2: an American journalist accuses Washington of sabotage
Russia initially accused
The sabotage of gas pipelines has been the subject of much speculation for months.
European officials had publicly stated that the operation was likely state-driven, due to the sophistication with which the perpetrators placed and detonated the explosives at the bottom of the Baltic Sea undetected.
The American authorities had not made any assumptions about the participation of a State.
At first, Western countries had suggested that Russia could have been responsible for this sabotage.
The main weakness of this hypothesis is the absence of a valid reason for Moscow to attack gas pipelines which constitute an important source of income and a means of pressure on Europeans.
The American authorities had quickly admitted that they did not
Ukraine had been considered to have a better motive.
Kiev has been opposed from the start to these projects, which make it easier for Russia to sell gas to Europe, without going through their territory, and to use its influence on Western governments to reduce their support. to Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials say they had no role in the attack and do not know who carried it out.
Russia had accused Washington of being behind this sabotage operation.
Last month, the famous American investigative journalist Seymour Hersch took up this accusation, and asserted on his blog that the United States was responsible for the operation.
He explained that it had been ordered by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and carried out by US Navy divers with the help of Norway, without however providing any evidence or citing any source.
Read alsoNord Stream: for the time being, German investigators have “no proof” of Russian sabotage
The new hypothesis of the involvement of a parastatal group is also not supported by identified sources, nor the slightest beginning of proof.
US officials said there remained huge gaps in what their intelligence services knew about the operation.
But they point out that this hypothesis could be the first significant lead to emerge from several investigations.
If true, it could have political consequences within the Western coalition which supports Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion.
The suggestion of Kiev's involvement in the sabotage, whether direct or indirect, could in particular disrupt the already delicate relations between Ukraine and Germany, which had approved the construction of the gas pipelines, and of which part of the opinion does not support not always with great enthusiasm the help of their country to the Ukrainians.