The CIA last year after uncovering a detailed plot that could block Russia’s energy exports to Europe, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials familiar with the exchange. Around the summer, he warned Ukraine not to go ahead with its plan to attack the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
Ukraine has denied involvement in the September 2022 explosions that damaged both Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas pipelines, and the Biden administration has not filed formal charges against any country. .But CIA officials received information from the Netherlands about a Kiev conspiracy in July of the same year and considered it credible enough to warn against carrying it out, the WSJ reported. reportsaid, citing an insider.
According to the WSJ, the CIA had doubts about Ukraine’s ability to successfully carry out a complex operation that required the placement of explosives in the depths of the Baltic Sea. (Related: State Department says Nord Stream 2 will ‘not advance’ if Russia invades Ukraine)
Washington Post report Citing documents obtained from a major leak last week, the Biden administration revealed that it knew of Ukraine’s plans to destroy the Nord Stream 1 pipeline months before the explosion.
Intelligence reports indicate that Ukrainian Armed Forces General Valeriy Zardini is overseeing an operation designed to keep President Volodymyr Zelensky from noticing it, possibly. rejection The paper said it was responsible. Ukraine opposed the Nord Stream project because the pipeline would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine in exporting natural gas to Europe, increasing Russia’s export revenues.
The WSJ reported, citing European intelligence officials, that the operation would be preceded by a large NATO exercise called Operation Baltic in the region directly above the pipeline.
According to the WSJ, information from Dutch military intelligence suggests that after Operation Baltic ends on June 17, Ukrainian operators plan to rent a yacht and sail to the pipeline and send a team of divers to plant explosives. was reported to show
In response, the CIA notified its European allies, including Germany, of the plan in June in some detail, according to the WSJ, but with somewhat vaguer notifications to the Baltic states. The CIA has since asked the Ukrainian side to confirm the plan, but the response remains unclear.
DRANSKE, GERMANY – MARCH 17: Bench overlooking the Baltic Sea on March 17, 2023 on the island of Rugen, near Dransk, Germany. (Photo credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
U.S. officials later said the CIA learned that Ukraine had called off the operation, according to the WSJ. U.S. intelligence agencies have downgraded their threat rating for an attack on the Nord Stream pipeline, believing that Ukraine no longer intends to carry out its plans, European officials familiar with the assessment told the media.
However, on 26 September, three explosions punctured three of the four pipelines that make up the Nord Stream 1 and 2 systems.
Ukrainian Military Intelligence spokesman Andriy Chernjak denied Ukraine’s involvement when queried by the WSJ about the reports of the CIA warning.
According to the WSJ, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said, “I don’t believe our military and intelligence agencies did that. If anyone makes a counter-argument, please show me the evidence.” Stated.
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