For the first time, the main features of the Nord Stream sabotage were told by witnesses and reported by the Wall Street Journal in the latest article.
Accordingly, in May 2022, a group of senior military officers and Ukrainian businessmen gathered in a bar to celebrate the achievements of the ongoing war. Alcohol comes in and out, one proposes to destroy Nord Stream.
More than four months later, on September 26, three powerful explosions in two Russian gas pipeline systems to Europe were discovered near the island of Bornholm, Denmark.
The sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic is one of the most daring sabotage acts in modern history, the Wall Street Journal said.
According to those involved, the Nord Stream attack cost Ukraine about $300,000.
"I always laugh when reading the speculation of the media about a major operation involving secret services, Submarines, drones and satellites. The whole incident originated from a drunken night and iron determination of a few people who were brave enough to risk their lives for the country" - an officer involved in this plot said.
According to a participating officer and three sources familiar with the matter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially approved the plan to destroy Nord Stream. But then, when the CIA learned and asked to stop, the Ukrainian president ordered a stop. However, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian army Valeriy Zaluzhniy - now the Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK - continued to conduct the sabotage.
After nearly a two-year investigation by German police into the Nord Stream case, in June this year, the German federal prosecutor issued the first arrest warrant for a Ukrainian professional diving coach.
It is known that in September 2022, the Nord Stream suspect group hired the Andromeda yacht at the port of Rostock, Germany. The cruise ship was hired with the help of a Polish travel company set up by Ukrainian intelligence as a cover for financial transactions nearly a decade ago.
Among the Nord Stream sabotage suspects, there is one military officer on active duty who is a seasoned captain, and four are experienced deep-sea divers. The captain has asked for leave as the unit is fighting in the southeastern front of Ukraine and his commander is not aware of the captain's activities during his leave.
Equipped with diving equipment, satellite positioning, mobile sonar and open-source maps to the seabed that recorded the locations of the pipelines, the Nord Stream sabotage suspect group set off. 4 divers worked in pairs. While operating in the dark cold waters of the Baltic, the suspects used a powerful explosive HMX with a timed detonator.
The harsh weather forced the Nord Stream suspect group to stop unexpectedly at the Swedish port of Sandhamn. At the time, the group discussed whether to cancel the Nord Stream sabotage, but the storm quickly dissipated and the sabotage continued.
After Nord Stream was sabotaged, German investigators questioned dozens of witnesses, surveyed the seabed around the blast site and screened a series of data including digital communications, travel records and financial transactions. Fortunately for investigators, while rushing to leave Germany, the Nord Stream sabotage suspect group forgot to wash the Andromeda, helping German detectives find traces of explosives, fingerprints and DNA samples of the suspect group.
Nord Stream investigators later identified the defendants' mobile phone numbers and Iridium satellite phones to reconstruct the entire cruise ship's journey, including anchoring in Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Poland.
US officials seek court orders to ask Google to provide emails used by a Ukrainian businessman to lease ships and deliver information to German investigators. Data shows that the Ukrainian businessman has been in contact with a number of boat rental companies in Sweden and Germany since mid-May 2022.
After that, investigators analyzed all the mobile phone data flows in the cruise area, reviewed thousands of connections to filter the relevant data. By November 2022, German investigators believed Ukrainians were behind the Nord Stream explosion.
However, Ukrainian officials involved in or familiar with the Nord Stream case believe it is impossible to bring any commanding officers to trial because there is no other evidence than the talks agreeing to want to blow up the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.
