Ukrainian general defies Zelenskyy to blow up Nord Stream attack: WSJ

Who exactly blew up the pipeline was an enduring mystery. The Danish and Swedish investigations closed inconclusively in February this year, and months later the UN admitted it had “no further details” on who was behind the attack.

But The Wall Street Journal published the most complete story on Wednesday, purporting to finally describe what happened.

A crew of six Ukrainian-backed divers is said to have chartered a 50-foot pleasure boat from Germany, sailed it to the Baltic Sea and planted explosive charges on the pipeline.

The newspaper cited four Ukrainian defense officials who either participated in or were familiar with the plot, as well as linking many details to a German police investigation. He did not say why the officials were not named.

Business Insider has not independently verified the report.

The idea to blow up the pipeline was the brainchild of a night of drinking months before, when a group of Ukrainian businessmen and senior military officers were toasting their country’s recent successes, the Journal reported.

The project was financed by businessmen with a shoestring budget of about $300,000 and was supported by then-army chief Valeri Zaluzhniy, the report said.

The project initially received approval from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — but in June, the CIA received a tip about it and tried to stop it, the report said.

Zelensky called for a halt, the report says — only for Zaluzhniy to go ahead with a modified version of the plan anyway.

Business Insider did not receive responses to its requests for comment sent to Defense Intelligence of Ukraine or Zelensky’s office.

The Ukrainian Embassy in London, where Zaluzhniy is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, could not be reached for comment by email.

Ukraine has repeatedly denied it was behind the attack. In a message to Jurnal, Zaluzhniy denied any reports and said any accusations would be a “mere provocation”. He also said that the armed forces of Ukraine would not have been authorized for missions abroad.

Senior Ukrainian special operations officer Roman Chervinsky led the attack, The Journal reported. Chervinsky declined to comment to the newspaper.

Ukraine has a solid rationale for wanting to disrupt the pipeline. A joint project between Russia and Germany, the pipeline was seen by Ukraine and the US as something that would increase Europe’s dependence on Russia for energy – giving Russia huge leverage and vital revenue.

After the destruction of Nord Stream, Russia’s only other main natural gas export route is right through Ukraine.

Following the blasts nearly two years ago, there was a flurry of finger-pointing. Western officials were quick to suggest that Russia could be behind the attack, which the Kremlin denied.

Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson and investigative journalist Seymour Hersh each made poorly sourced claims that President Joe Biden led the attack.

Investigative reports pointing to Ukraine’s responsibility have been surfacing for months, many of the details matching the Journal’s report.

A joint investigation between The Washington Post and Der Spiegel also linked Chervinsky and Ukraine to the attack. New York Times reporting last year also said a Ukrainian group was behind the attack.

The Journal’s latest report is the first to suggest that Zelensky knew about the attack.

The matter is likely to cause diplomatic friction between Ukraine and Germany, which has been a common stakeholder with Russia in the dispute.

The cost to Germany of seeking alternative energy sources is estimated at one million dollars per day.

Germany is also the second largest country supporting Ukraine’s war effort.

A senior German official familiar with the country’s police investigation into the matter told The Journal: “Our critical infrastructure was blown up by a country we support with massive arms shipments and billions in cash.”