German newspaper Der Spiegel reported on November 20 that a Ukrainian group suspected of being behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in September 2022 had long-standing ties to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), with some members - including suspected mastermind Roman Chervinsky - having been trained by US spies for years.
The German magazine wrote that the group had been "planning and carrying out covert operations for the Ukrainian security apparatus for years", targeting the Nord Stream gas pipeline since early 2019, about three years before Russia launched its military campaign in Ukraine.
The Nord Stream pipeline delivers up to 60 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year, meeting about 16% of the EU's gas needs in 2018 and half of Germany's annual needs by 2021. Nord Stream has long been a "thorn in Washington's side," Der Spiegel writes.
Prior to the explosion, senior US officials, including President Joe Biden, had repeatedly criticized the Nord Stream project and urged Germany to abandon the Nord Stream 2 project.
Nord Stream 2 never became operational, as Germany halted the certification process just before Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
According to Der Spiegel, Chervinsky was among a group of Ukrainian security officials handpicked and trained by US intelligence over several years. Washington wanted to build relationships with “trusted” spies while keeping these efforts secret from Moscow. The magazine noted that a key goal was to create “capable sabotage units.”
The German magazine quoted a Ukrainian source as saying that the explosives used in the Nord Stream sabotage were not produced in Ukraine. However, the source refused to reveal the origin of the explosives.
Der Spiegel also claimed to have identified nearly all of the individuals involved in the sabotage but did not publish their names, out of concern that they could be targeted by Russian or Ukrainian security services.
Meanwhile, skepticism about the official story persists. Earlier this month, prominent German diving expert Dr. Sven Thomas questioned the claim that a small group of Ukrainians carried out the attack.
Mr Thomas argued that explosions of that scale would require seabed mines with a yield equivalent to 2,800 pounds of TNT. Placing such devices, he said, would require a large ship, not just a yacht.
Moscow has dismissed the reports, saying it is unreasonable to suggest that a small group of Ukrainians carried out the sabotage. Last month, Danish media reported that US Navy warships were operating near the Nord Stream pipeline shortly before the explosion.
