CIA knew of Ukraine plan to blow up Nord Stream pipeline, US report says
- The US spy agency was alerted about a possible attack by Ukraine divers reporting to military chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi months before the blasts
- It is not yet clear who was responsible for the explosions; accusations were made against Russia, the US, Ukraine and others, but all have denied responsibility
A European spy agency told the CIA it knew of a Ukraine special operations team plan to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipeline three months before explosions damaged the undersea system last year, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
The newspaper cited US intelligence allegedly leaked earlier this year by a low-level US Air National Guard computer technician who had access to large amounts of highly classified materials.
The leaked documents indicated that an unnamed European intelligence body told the US spy agency in June 2022, four months after Russia invaded Ukraine, that Ukraine military divers reporting directly to the country’s military commander-in-chief were planning the attack.
The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, built to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, were rocked by underwater explosions on September 26, rendering them useless and cutting off a potential source of billions of dollars in earnings for Russia.
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‘Powerful explosions’ caused Nord Stream leaks, Danish authorities say
The apparent sabotage sparked a region-wide emergency as it cut off crucial supplies of energy for Europe just as the war had sent the price of oil skyrocketing.