New intelligence seen by US officers suggests {that a} pro-Ukraine group attacked the Nord Stream 2 pipelines that transport pure fuel from Russia to international locations in Western Europe, the New York Occasions reported on Tuesday.
US officers informed the paper there is not any proof that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or his high aides had been concerned or that the Ukrainian authorities in any other case directed those that attacked the pipelines that run underneath the Baltic Sea.
The US and NATO initially thought-about the September 2022 assault an act of sabotage, discounting a pure catastrophe like an earthquake.
Hypothesis over who was responsible ranged from Ukraine to Russia to Britain to the US.
Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia on Feb. 24, 2022, instantly got here underneath suspicion as a result of it has opposed the mission for years, contemplating it a nationwide safety menace as a result of it could enable Russia to proceed to promote fuel in Europe whereas stopping Kyiv from amassing profitable switch charges.
A assessment of the brand new intelligence, the Occasions mentioned, sheds little mild about who carried out the assault, who was related to it, or who financed it.
The intel does recommend, nonetheless, that the culprits opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin and had been probably Ukrainian or Russian nationals — or a mixture of the 2.Â
The officers informed the outlet that no People or Brits had been concerned within the breach.
There may be additionally no proof that the Russian authorities had a hand within the assault.Â
It was believed early on that the assault was state-sponsored due to its sophistication, which required the inserting of explosives deep under the floor Baltic and detonating them whereas escaping detection.
The explosives had been more than likely planted with the help of skilled divers who didn’t seem like linked to any navy or intelligence service, the report mentioned, elevating the likelihood that the saboteurs obtained specialised state-sponsored coaching previously.Â
Russia blamed the British navy for the assault, a declare London accused Moscow of inventing.Â
Final month, Pulitzer-prize successful journalist Seymour Hersh alleged in a report that US Navy divers laid the bombs that wrecked the pipelines.Â
Hersh, 85, who gained the Pulitzer for exposing the My Lai bloodbath of Vietnamese civilians by US troops in 1968, mentioned the Navy carried out the operation underneath the quilt of a NATO train.Â
The allegation prompted a pointed denial from the Pentagon and skepticism from different geopolitical consultants and observers.
White Home press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to touch upon the report, referring reporters to the governments of Germany, Sweden and Denmark, which have opened investigations into the incident.
