US was aware of Ukrainian plot to attack Nord Stream, report says

According to The Washington Post, the US was informed months before the mysterious explosions that Ukraine’s military was plotting to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines.

The information cited in the leaked US intelligence report came from the intelligence services of a friendly European nation, the Post informed of Refusing to name the country.

The detailed intelligence, which the US received three months before the blasts, matches some of the evidence emerging from an inconclusive investigation into attacks on Europe’s energy infrastructure.

The post cited an intelligence document leaked by Jack Teixeira, a member of the US Air National Guard, on the Discord social media platform. The US National Security Council and the CIA declined to comment. Ukrainian authorities have long denied any involvement in the attack on the pipeline.

The underwater explosions in late September left only three of the four pipes intact, severing Russia’s massive gas infrastructure to Europe.

The ensuing finger-pointing and inconclusive investigation has given rise to a number of conspiracy theories, with Russia, the US and Ukrainian saboteurs alternately blamed.

Despite European intelligence, the US initially blamed Russia for destroying its expensive pipeline as a means of putting pressure on Europe before winter. At the time of the explosions, Russia had already shut down Nord Stream 1 in response to sanctions, and Nord Stream 2 had yet to begin operations.

Evidence has emerged that supports this initial theory. Secret Russian naval maneuvers in the Baltic near the blast site have been uncovered; was a Russian naval vessel carrying a small submarine Photographed in the field by the Danish Navy,

German investigators are looking for an alternative theory. In January, they discovered a yacht called the Andromeda, which was chartered in September 2022 in Rostock, a German port city, and may have taken part in the attack. Explosive residue was found in the cabin of the yacht. German investigators and journalists have linked a man involved in chartering the yacht to the Ukrainian military.

The details of their investigation are similar in some respects to the case cited by the Post, which pertains to a scheme to charter a boat in Germany. Intelligence reports cited an intention to use a submersible vehicle, however, a method not previously associated with Andromeda.

According to the Post, details of the plot were withheld from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky so that the president could deny knowledge of an incident with serious international repercussions.

Nord Stream was a joint investment between Russia’s Gazprom, which held a 51 percent stake, while European partners invested billions in the project despite Washington’s resistance.

The intelligence appears to be based on a single source within the Ukrainian government, raising suspicions in the US intelligence community. Despite objections, the European Intelligence Service shared its findings with the German government, which briefed parliamentarians months before the blasts.

Additional reporting by Felicia Schwartz and James Politi in Washington