Nord Stream sabotage clues point to UKRAINE, German probe suggests: Emails used to hire mystery sailboat and other evidence indicate Russia may not have carried out the attack
- Hired yacht investigators suspect was used in attack has been linked to Ukraine
- A Ukrainian man in his mid-twenties has also been identified as a suspect
German investigators have reportedly uncovered clues that could suggest the Nord Stream Pipeline was sabotaged by Ukraine, including emails used to hire a yacht suspected of being used in the attack.
The blasts in September last year caused major damage to three of the four gas pipelines running between Russia and Germany, severing the key energy supply to western Europe.
A yacht, which investigators suspect was used in the attack, has been linked to Ukraine through the supposed shell company which hired it, Spiegel weekly reported.
German investigators also identified a Ukrainian man in his mid-twenties with ties to the military who they believe may have been part of the six-person team manning the yacht, according to the joint report.
The new claims could indicate that Moscow was not to blame for the incident, despite Russian naval activity in the area just days before the unexplained explosions.
German investigators are pursuing leads that Ukraine were responsible for carrying out the mysterious Nord Stream pipeline blasts last September. Pictured: A gas leak at Nord Stream 2
The president of the presumed shell company through which the ‘Andromeda’ yacht was hired lives in Kyiv, according to research by investigative reporters
Metadata from the emails used to rent a sailboat suspected to have been used in the attack tie the senders to Ukraine, Spiegel weekly reported Friday.
The president of the presumed shell company through which the ‘Andromeda’ yacht was hired also lives in Kyiv, according to research by investigative reporters.
The links to Ukraine corresponded with assessments by multiple intelligence services, according to Spiegel.
The agencies were reportedly examining whether the attack could have been carried out by an independent Ukrainian commando group or if a government-backed unit was more likely.
Andromeda is said to have docked in the marina of Christianso, a tiny Danish island northeast of Bornholm and in close proximity to where the three bombs went off, in the days leading up to the sabotage.
The yacht was found with traces of ‘military-grade and underwater-deployable’ explosives.
The blasts knocked out three of the four strands of the pipelines, essentially destroying the main energy link between Russia and the West
The theory suggests that five men and a woman arrived in Germany using fake Bulgarian and Romanian passports before using the yacht as a base to deploy trained divers to plant the bombs around 70m below sea level.
READ MORE: UKRAINE carried out Nord Stream pipe blast, German police suspect
The yacht (pictured) was found with traces of ‘military-grade and underwater-deployable’ explosives
German investigators argue the attacks would have required aid from state security services and claim to have found evidence that could implicate Ukraine, according to the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
The complex trail is said to lead to a shell company, a travel bureau, which was created by two Ukrainians in Warsaw.
Despite this theory, security analysts have raised doubts over how such a complex operation could have been carried out by a group on a small yacht without a submarine.
A potential false flag operation, used by the Russians to pin the blame on someone else, has also not been completely ruled out.
Separate reports have pointed out that a Russian navy vessel specialised in submarine operations was photographed near the sabotaged Nord Stream gas pipelines just prior to the mysterious blasts in September.
The pipelines had been at the centre of geopolitical tensions as Russia dwindled gas supplies to Europe in suspected retaliation to sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Western countries were quick to blame the explosions under the Baltic Sea on Russia following the incident, while the Kremlin has accused the West of sabotage.
German, Swedish and Danish authorities have been investigating the blasts that sparked the leaks.
It comes as Moscow summoned the ambassadors of Germany, Denmark and Sweden yesterday to protest a ‘complete lack of results’ in a joint investigation into the explosions last year.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry in a statement accused all three of deliberately dragging their feet in the investigation and trying to conceal who was behind the blasts.
Moscow said it was unhappy about what it called the opaque nature of the investigation and its refusal to engage with Russia.
Blame has been pinned on the US, Russia, the Ukrainian secret services and an unnamed businessman in Ukraine. All three countries have vehemently denied responsibility.
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