Nord Stream, “act planned by Ukrainians”. Who financed the sabotage

In the case of the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the path leading to Ukraine is becoming more and more concrete, although the mystery is still far from being solved. The political and economic interests at stake are enormous, as are the possible repercussions on international security. According to the latest evidence, some genetic traces found on the boat that German investigators believe was used to place the explosive in the infrastructure could be superimposed on the DNA of a 26-year-old Ukrainian soldier, romantically linked to a German citizen residing in Frankfurt am Main, ‘Oder, by whom he had a son.

“It is two pieces, along with others, that give greater strength to a Ukrainian sabotage trail”, writes Corriere della Sera, which reports on the latest evidence emerging from the investigations into the September 26 attack. Nord Stream, which is used to transport Russian gas to Northern Europe and in particular to Germany, was damaged by four explosions at a depth of 70-80 meters. The 300, perhaps 500 kilos of explosives would have been placed in the duct by some specialized divers (six people, including a woman and a doctor) who left on a sailboat, the Andromeda, from which the German investigation departed.

The Ukrainian soldier identified with the DNA allegedly “arrived in the German city of Rostock with false Romanian documents where he joined the team of robbers who later used Andromeda”, reads in the article that gives an account of the hypotheses of the researchers and what results from the work newspaper of the Swedish Expressen. According to them, the sabotage operation was “financed by a wealthy compatriot close to the Zelensky government and carried out with the help of a Polish travel agency owned by a Ukrainian from Crimea”. However, he would also have Russian nationality and would be sought for collaboration by Kiev.

Some elements are discordant, but “in Germany the thesis that prevails – not definitive – is that of an act planned by the Ukrainians”, write Andrea Marinelli and Guido Olimpo. The arguments that seek to base the raid on deviated sectors of the secret services, which would have acted without the knowledge of the central government, and “the hypothesis of a provocation by the Kremlin, a theory immediately supported by some northern European states”, lose some force. However, doubts are raised in Germany about the reconstruction that sees the Andromeda at the heart of the attack: the vessel would be too small for an operation of this type and would not have an airlock.