Media investigation finds Ukrainian officer coordinated Nord Stream pipelines sabotage
A Ukrainian special forces commander played a key role in sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September last year, reports said Saturday.
Mystery has surrounded who was behind the blasts that damaged the pipelines, cutting off a major route for Russian gas exports to Europe and fuelling already high tensions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
Different theories have emerged pointing the finger at Ukraine, Russia or the United States. All have denied involvement.
A joint investigation by The Washington Post newspaper and German outlet Der Spiegel singles out Roman Chervinsky, a 48-year-old who served in Ukraine's Special Operations Forces.
He was the "coordinator", the reports said, citing officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people with knowledge of the operation, who spoke anonymously.
He oversaw logistics and support for a six-person team, which rented a sailing boat using false identities and diving equipment to place explosive charges on the pipelines, said the Post.
The blasts ruptured three of the four pipelines that make up Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, spewing gas into the Baltic Sea.
(AFP)
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