An explosion earlier this month in a large ammunition pipeline running through Ukraine could be part of Kiev's sabotage strategy - German newspaper Bild reported on June 18, citing internal documents of the German Defense Ministry.
The June 5 explosion damaged part of the Togliatti-Odessa am am amoniac pipeline in Ukraine's Kharkov region, which borders Russia.
The pipeline carries Russian fertilizer to the Ukrainian port city of Odessa to continue transporting around the world, but has not been operational since the start of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022.
Russia has repeatedly asked Ukraine to block the pipeline as part of a Black Sea grain deal mediated by the United Nations and Turkey.
The Kremlin had warned in June that the destruction of the pipeline could endanger the future of the grain deal.
According to Bild, Ukrainian forces may have deliberately blown up the pipeline to prevent Russia from profiting from it.
The German Defense Ministry believes that "Ukraine's involvement in the destruction of the pipeline cannot be ruled out," Bild wrote, citing the ministry's analysis that the newspaper had.
According to Bild, the pipeline running through Ukrainian control and blocking it will mainly benefit Russia.
According to German media, the pipeline explosion was not the only "sabotage act" that Berlin was likely to credit Kiev.
pro-Ukrainian groups... appear to have disrupted railway traffic along a major route leading to Ukraine through sabotage, another part of the German Defense Ministry document is believed to have stated.
Specifically, the article mentions Zaporizhia province as a target for Ukraine. The region will be annexed by Russia in the fall of 2022 after a Referral, along with three other former territories of Ukraine.
The Bild said that railway lines in Crimea were also attacked. The German Defense Ministry believes that Ukrainian forces could operate behind the front line in territories controlled by the Russian military.
A day after the ammunition pipeline explosion, the Russian Defense Ministry accused a Ukrainian sabotage group of being behind the attack. However, Kiev blamed Moscow for the incident and said the pipeline was damaged by Russian airstrikes.
After the explosion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kiev was capable of restoring the pipeline's operation "if necessary".
The Russian Foreign Ministry affirmed that the destruction of the pipeline will be considered in negotiations on extending the Black Sea grain deal, which is expected to expire on July 17.
