German investigators are following leads that could implicate Ukraine in the mysterious Nord Stream pipeline explosion last September, according to a new report.
It comes despite suspicious Russian naval activity days before a still-unexplained explosion at a pipeline built to transport gas from Russia to Germany.
The September 26, 2022 explosions caused major damage to three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, which took 15 years to build, cutting off the main energy link between Russia and the West.
Despite three ongoing investigations in Germany, Sweden and Denmark, no perpetrators have yet been identified
Since the September explosion, the United States, Russia, the Ukrainian Secret Service and an unnamed Ukrainian businessman have all been blamed, but all three countries have strongly denied responsibility.
German investigators are looking into whether Ukraine was responsible for the mysterious Nord Stream pipeline explosion last September. Photo: A gas leak at Nord Stream 2
The explosions knocked out three of the pipeline’s four strands, essentially destroying the main energy link between Russia and the West.
More recently, all eyes have turned to Russian naval activity in the Baltic Sea at the time of the explosion.
Denmark reports that a Russian submarine rescue vessel SS-750 was photographed at sea four days before the explosion.
The SS-750 has its own mini-submarine, called the AS-26, which can reach a depth of 262 feet (80 m) and carry a payload of up to 50 kg.
However, some critics question why Vladimir Putin would be interested in reducing Russia’s power leverage over Europe by blowing up important gas pipelines.
In contrast, others claim that Russia wanted to send a warning signal to the West about the vulnerability of important gas pipelines at sea.
They also claim that Moscow could hide behind a veil of plausible deniability by blowing up its own pipeline in the Baltic Sea – east of the Danish island of Bornholm.
The Times reports that the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) is now investigating new leads that could implicate Ukraine and clear Russia of any wrongdoing.
Indeed, investigative journalists in Germany, Poland, Sweden and Denmark claimed today that Russia was skeptical of any sabotage after thoroughly examining Moscow’s naval maneuvers around the BKA blast site.
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 in the weeks before the explosion.
German investigators have now turned their attention to the Andromeda – a yacht chartered by a Polish company from the northern German port of Rostock in the weeks before the explosion.
The Andromeda is said to have docked at Christiansø Marina – a small Danish island northeast of Bornholm and close to where three of the bombs went off – in the days leading up to the sabotage.
Traces of ‘military-grade and underwater deployable’ explosives were found on the yacht.
The theory suggests the five men and women arrived in Germany using fake Bulgarian and Romanian passports before using the yacht as a base to deploy divers trained to plant bombs 70 meters below sea level.
German investigators argue that the attack would require the help of state security services and claim to have found evidence that could implicate Ukraine, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
The complex is said to be a shell company, a travel bureau, created by two Ukrainians in Warsaw.
The yacht (pictured) was found marked with ‘military-grade and underwater deployable’ explosives
The report also suggests that German authorities have selected two other Ukrainians from near Kiev and Odessa as other members of the yacht. One, a 26-year-old, is alleged to have previously served in the Ukrainian army.
Despite these theories coming to the fore, security analysts have raised doubts about how a small team on a small yacht without a submarine could conduct such a complex operation.
The latest investigation into who caused the Nord Stream explosion comes as Ukraine and Russia dispute whether the destroyed city of Bakhmut belongs to Moscow.
While Putin congratulated the mercenary group Wagner and his Russian army for taking the eastern Ukrainian city, President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to deny it has been taken.
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