Politico's latest Nord Stream report says German investigators are now accusing Poland of failing to execute an arrest and wanted notice across Europe for the prime suspect in the Nord Stream case.
Ukrainian diving coach Volodymyr Z, who lives in Warsaw, Poland, was arrested by the German Federal Court of Justice in June this year. However, the main suspect in the Nord Stream case has left Poland for Ukraine.
A German official accused Poland of sabotage the investigation. Another source familiar with the matter called the incident an "obstruction of justice". "It is clear that the Polish government has let the suspect go to cover up their own involvement in the gas pipeline attack," August Hanning, former director of the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) told German newspaper world am Sonntag.
He believes that Polish President Andrzej Duda and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are aware of the plans to attack the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. "Such a large-scale operation would not have been possible without the approval of the political leaders of the countries involved," Haning said.
Nord Stream investigators in Germany have accused the six people on the Andromeda of planting explosives in the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines trained in Poland. Warsaw may have provided logistical support for underwater sabotage.
Members were suspected of carrying the equipment needed for the Nord Stream attack onto the Andromeda cruise ship at the Kołobrzeg coastal resort, where the cruise stopped seven days before the gas pipeline explosion.
German investigators also accused the Polish authorities of deliberately concealing videos of the yacht in Kołobrzeg. Poland's refusal was a source of Germany's doubt.
The Polish side was extremely angry with the accusations from Germany. "Allegations that Ukraine carried out this incident with Poland's permission are completely unfounded," Jacek Siewiera, head of the Polish National Security Service, said.
He said the allegations come from a group of former pro-Russian officials who are no longer in power. "I hope we don't have to deal with an organized misinformation campaign, in which people have taken advantage of themselves to blame Poland," Siewiera said. The official said Poland is investigating all the clues.
"It's funny to believe we did it, but if Ukraine was behind the attack, Germany should stop the investigation, because for Kiev, it was a legitimate military target," said a senior officer living in a major Ukrainian city accused of being involved in the Nord Stream pipeline attack.
In other developments, the latest Nord Stream news from TASS quoted German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit as saying that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to know the culprit behind the Nord Stream explosion. According to the spokesperson, the Nord Stream sabotage is still on Berlin's agenda when meeting Kiev. "We are negotiating with Ukraine and I think the Ukrainian president has also publicly stated that his government has no involvement in this incident," Mr. Hebestreit noted.
