Born after a drunken night
The Nord Stream sabotage is complicated, but the origin of the plot began with a drunken night of a group of Ukrainian military officers and businessmen in May 2022.
"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 the plot said.
Counting $300,000
Despite the scale of the Nord Stream sabotage campaign, the cost is only one-third of Ukraine's most popular tank - the T-64 tank, worth about $1.1 million.
The cost for the crew, explosives and the yacht to hire was just $300,000 to sabotage the gas pipeline worth about $17 billion.
At a meeting in May 2022, the parties agreed that businessmen would finance their own Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 destruction campaigns.
15m yacht
To disguise itself appropriately, the Nord Stream sabotage was not carried out by a ship suitable for military operations. The pipeline saboteurs chartered a 15m long entertainment yacht - the Andromeda - from the German port of Rostok.
The yacht was hired by a Polish travel company. The company is a cover for financial transactions set up by Ukrainian intelligence more than a decade ago.
Ukrainian President approves and cancels operation
According to an officer involved in the Nord Stream incident and three sources familiar with the matter, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had initially approved the operation. Meanwhile, Valery Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, was in charge of the operation.
In June 2022, the Dutch intelligence agency MIVD learned about the plot and reported it to the CIA. After the CIA approached, President Zelensky decided to cancel the operation. However, Mr. Zaluzhny ignored the order and continued to implement it.
Some obstacles
The crew boarded the Andromeda, flying the Ukrainian flag and departing in September 2022. The group brought diving equipment, satellite positioning, mobile sonar, open-source maps and HMX explosives. The mission quickly encountered a number of problems, mainly bad weather.
The weather forced the cruise ship around the Swedish port of Sandhamn and there was a brief discussion on whether to cancel the Nord Stream sabotage. During this process, a diver also accidentally dropped an explosive into the sea.
The role of Dutch intelligence
A few days after the Nord Stream attack, an unexpected group emerged as one of the main investigators of the plot: Dutch Intelligence MIVD. The Netherlands has developed an advanced intelligence network in Ukraine and Russia since the MH17 incident in 2014.
A MIVD report, which was forwarded to the CIA and then to German intelligence, detailed the Nord Stream incident, including the type of vessel used and the route to the attack sites. Another Dutch report also identified Zaluzhny and the Ukrainian military as involved in the attack.
