The Polish intelligence service has allegedly told Germany's security officials that Russia was involved in the September 26, 2022 blowing up of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines built to carry Russian gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea, Poland's biznesalert.pl website reported on Wednesday.
The sabotage was reportedly carried out from a yacht named Andromeda, hired in Poland, according to biznesalert.pl.
This theory runs counter to the findings of a German investigation into the Nord Stream explosions, which implicate Ukraine, according to various German media outlets, biznesalert.pl reported.
Meanwhile, Germany’s private television broadcaster RTL has reported that at least one Russian person was involved in the sabotage, according to biznesalert.pl.
In an article published online on Monday, Die Zeit said that “Poland’s claims may be designed to divert attention away from Ukraine,” as cited by biznesalert.pl.
“Even if a number of Russian nationals had indeed been on board the yacht, this isn’t sufficient evidence to conclude who ordered the attack,” Die Zeit added, according to biznesalert.pl.
Die Zeit quoted officials in Berlin as saying that Polish investigators had failed to cooperate with German prosecutors on legal issues, and did not comply with Germany’s request to share photos of the Andromeda from the northern Polish port of Kołobrzeg, according to biznesalert.pl.
“It is possible that Polish authorities are highlighting the Russian connection to deflect attention away from Ukraine,” Die Zeit wrote, as cited by biznesalert.pl.
On September 26, 2022, a series of blasts damaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 Russia-to-Germany gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
Russia’s state gas company Gazprom has since sought to repair the pipelines, but so far no company in Europe has expressed an interest in the project, according to biznesalert.pl.
Russia has variously accused the UK intelligence agency MI6, the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Ukrainian government of carrying out the sabotage, biznesalert.pl noted.
Wednesday is day 595 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, launching the largest military campaign in Europe since World War II.
(pm/gs)
Source: biznesalert.pl, Die Zeit