The Washington Post, citing Ukrainian sources and European officials, as well as the German magazine Der Spiegel, reported that a former senior Ukrainian official coordinated the explosions that ruptured the Nord Stream 1 & Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
According to the report, Roman Chervinsky was the “coordinator” of the Nord Stream operations and led a six-person squad that executed the multi-billion dollar infrastructure attack in September 2022.
The outlet reported that Chervinsky, along with a group of six other people, rented a sailing boat under a false identity and used deep sea diving equipment to place explosives on gas pipelines.
The Post, citing sources familiar with Chervinsky’s role, reported that Chervinsky was not acting alone, nor did he plan the operation. He simply obeyed the orders of officers at a high level who ultimately answered to Ukraine’s highest-ranking military officer, Valery Zaluzhny.
In a statement written to the Washington Post by Chervinsky, he denied any involvement in the Nord Streams sabotage.
“All speculations about my involvement in the attack on Nord Stream are being spread by Russian propaganda without any basis,” Chervinsky said.
Since the explosion on Sept. 26, 2022 rumors have circulated about who is responsible for sabotaging the Nord Streams. People are quick to point the finger at Washington, Kyiv, or Moscow.
Seymour Hersh – a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist – claimed in February that U.S. Navy Divers destroyed the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline on President Joe Biden’s direct orders.
John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council (NSC), denied repeatedly that the United States was involved in the explosions after Hersh’s report.
It’s a false story. Shannon, there is no truth in it,” Kirby said to Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday”, in February. “Not one shred. This is not true. “The United States and none of its proxies had anything to do with it, nothing.”
Hersh’s report, according to the White House, CIA, and NSC was “utterly untrue and complete fiction.”
After the sabotage, Russia demanded that the United Nations investigate the sabotage.
In a letter sent to UN council members, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany stated that sabotage of pipelines was “unacceptable”, and that it “endangers international security” and is a cause for concern.
The letter stated that the concerns about the indirect effects of greenhouse gas emissions were “substantial” and “worrisome”.
The National Security Council did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
