The new book published last week reveals details about the attack targeting the world's largest offshore gas pipeline system, Nord Stream.
The book mentions a group of divers involved in the Nord Stream sabotage in the Baltic Sea in 2022, including a single woman, over 30 years old, called Freya.
Freya's real name, as well as other members of the sabotage group, was not disclosed for security reasons.
Freya was born in Kiev, Ukraine in the mid-1980s and was mainly raised by her mother. From a young age, Freya was an active, energetic child. When she graduated from high school, she knew English and Spanish, and chose a university major that allowed her to go to many places around the world.
In the 2000s, Freya was a familiar face of nightlife in the capital of Ukraine. Young, outstandingly beautiful, she occasionally worked as a model and once appeared on the cover of a sexy magazine.
Around that time, when she was just over 20 years old, Freya first tried diving in the Black Sea region. Finding a new passion, not long after, Freya quit her job and became a diving instructor. This job helped her have the opportunity to go to famous diving spots such as Egypt, Spain, Mexico and Thailand. She made friends with many people around the world.
Just over 3 years after her first exposure to diving equipment, Freya became a technical diver - people who operate at depths far beyond the limits of conventional recreational diving. Before long, she began diving to a depth of over 100m - an environment that even most military divers rarely approach.
In April 2022, a special secret unit contacted Freya through acquaintances in the diver community.
Two senior intelligence officers with bold thinking - authors call them "General" and "Colonel" - developed a plan targeting the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Not finding suitable expertise in the military, they decided to recruit highly qualified civilian divers for this task.
The selection process relies heavily on monitoring and psychological evaluation activities. Some divers pass the screening round, one more person than the number needed to form 2 combat teams. Freya is the only woman recruited for this extremely dangerous and life-threatening operation. However, she has never been trained to use air circulation diving equipment - a reusable breathing system that helps increase the efficiency of underwater operations.
The "General" believes Freya should be eliminated, but the "Colonel" has a different view. He believes that sometimes men have the motivation to perform better when working with women. Freya has leadership qualities. Most importantly, the "Colonel" sees in Freya a rare quality among the spies or collaborators he has worked with. This woman does not hide her fear. Simply, she is not afraid.
He called a friend who knew Freya. "She's really a bit crazy" - the friend replied. "Good. I need someone like that for this campaign" - the Colonel replied.
