more on pipeline

https://www.zeit.de/politik/ausland/2023-03/nordstream-2-ukraine-anschlag

The German investigative authorities have apparently made a breakthrough in solving the attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. According to a joint investigation by ARD's capital city studio, the ARD political magazine Kontraste, SWR and DIE ZEIT, it has been possible to reconstruct to a large extent how and when the explosives attack was prepared. According to this, traces lead in the direction of Ukraine. However, investigators have not yet found any evidence of who ordered the destruction. On the night of September 26, 2022, three of the four strings of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were destroyed by explosions on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

Specifically, according to information from ARD-Hauptstadtstudio, Kontraste, SWR and ZEIT, investigators have managed to identify the boat that was presumably used for the secret operation. It is said to be a yacht rented from a company based in Poland, apparently owned by two Ukrainians. The clandestine operation at sea is said to have been carried out by a team of six people, according to the investigation. It is said to have involved five men and one woman. According to the report, the group consisted of a captain, two divers, two diving assistants and a female doctor, who allegedly transported the explosives to the crime scenes and placed them there. The nationality of the perpetrators is apparently unclear. The assassins used professionally forged passports, which are said to have been used, among other things, to rent the boat.

According to the investigation, the commando set sail from Rostock on September 6, 2022. The equipment for the clandestine operation was previously transported to the port in a van, it is said. In the further course, the investigators succeeded in locating the boat the following day again in Wieck (Darß) and later at the Danish island Christiansø, northeast of Bornholm, according to the research. The yacht was subsequently returned to the owner in uncleaned condition. On the table in the cabin, the investigators were able to detect traces of explosives, according to the research. According to information from ARD-Hauptstadtstudio, Kontraste, SWR and ZEIT, a Western intelligence service is said to have sent a tip to European partner services as early as in the fall, i.e. shortly after the destruction, according to which a Ukrainian commando was responsible for the destruction. Thereafter, there are said to have been further intelligence indications suggesting that a pro-Ukrainian group could be responsible.

For their research, ARD's Hauptstadtstudio, Kontraste, SWR and ZEIT spoke with sources in several countries. Security agencies in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States were involved in the investigation into the destruction of the pipelines. In Germany, the investigation is being led by the Federal Prosecutor General, who has commissioned both the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Police. Even though traces lead to Ukraine, investigators have not yet succeeded in finding out who commissioned the suspected group of perpetrators. In international security circles, it is not ruled out that this could also be a false-flag operation. This means that traces could also have been deliberately laid that point to Ukraine as the perpetrator. However, investigators have apparently found no evidence to corroborate such a scenario.

The Ukrainian government could not initially be reached for comment. The federal prosecutor general also declined to comment. A German government spokesman referred to ongoing investigations by the Federal Prosecutor General and authorities in Sweden and Denmark. Only "a few days ago," Sweden, Denmark and Germany had "informed the United Nations Security Council that the investigations are ongoing and that there are no results yet," the government spokesman said.