Two years after the explosions paralyzed the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline systems, Moscow has been unable to hide its frustration. Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev said on September 25 that all international investigation initiatives launched by Russia were systematically ignored, while legal aid requests never received a response.
Three years have passed since the terrorist attacks on the Nord Stream pipeline, and the international community still does not know who is the culprit and who is behind the plan. Meanwhile, Western countries that are often quick to basically blame Russia, this time suddenly show a slow and only a certain amount of confidence in German prosecutors, said Mr. Nechayev.
According to Ambassador Nechayev, Moscow has initially called for an international investigation involving Russian experts. However, all recommendations have fallen into silence, making Russia unable to trust the objectivity, fairness and transparency of the current investigation.
He also dismissed the Western medias hypothesis that the Ukrainian amateur divers were culprits, saying the scenario completely lacked persuasion.
Ambassador Nechayev stressed that in addition to financial damage and the destruction of Europe's largest gas infrastructure, the attack also caused the largest methane leak ever recorded, leading to a serious environmental disaster. Such an action cannot be ignored, regardless of who is behind it, he warned.
Earlier this year, Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung and German channel ARD said investigators had identified seven suspects, all of whom were Ukrainian citizens; six of whom had been issued a wanted notice, while another was believed to have died in the war in eastern Ukraine. The investigation also raised the possibility that the group acted with the support of the Kiev government.
Meanwhile, European public opinion was even more skeptical when Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski was tricked into calling two Russian " comedians" Vovan and Lexus pretending to be former Ukrainian President Poroshenko.
In the released video, Sikorski laughed while raising his index finger, saying the pipeline sabotage was a great deal and revealing the Americans knew in advance but did not stop it.
Immediately after the incident in 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov repeatedly affirmed that Moscow "had no doubt" about the US involvement in the Nord Stream sabotage. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has also opened a criminal case, considering this an act of international terrorism.
Three years have passed, but the truth about the pipeline explosion remains in the fog of suspicion and cross-accusation. With Russia continuing to accuse of being ignored, while Europe is inexplicable silence, the Nord Stream case will probably remain the focus of political and diplomatic tensions for many years to come.
