The Wall Street Journal claimed last week that Nord Stream 1 and 2 were sabotaged by Ukraine with support from Western governments
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk took to Twitter to scold Germans who are outraged at the possibility that Ukraine, in collusion with European governments and the US, destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines, depriving Germany of Russian natural gas.
“To all the initiators and patrons of Nord Stream 1 and 2. The only thing you should do today about it is apologise and keep quiet,” Tusk tweeted on Saturday.
To all the initiators and patrons of Nord Stream 1 and 2. The only thing you should do today about it is apologise and keep quiet.
— Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) August 17, 2024
Tusk was responding to August Henning, former head of the German Federal Intelligence Service, who alleged in a recent interview with Germany’s Die Welt newspaper that Tusk’s predecessor, Andrzej Duda, knew about plans to sabotage the pipeline.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Ukraine was responsible for the operation, which took place in September 2022.
“One of the most audacious acts of sabotage in modern history, the operation worsened an energy crisis in Europe—an assault on critical infrastructure that could be considered an act of war under international law,” the Journal reported.
“Theories swirled about who was responsible. Was it the CIA? Could Putin himself have set the plan in motion?
“Now, for the first time, the outlines of the real story can be told. The Ukrainian operation cost around $300,000, according to people who participated in it. It involved a small rented yacht with a six-member crew, including trained civilian divers. One was a woman, whose presence helped create the illusion they were a group of friends on a pleasure cruise.”
Denmark and Sweden have closed their investigation into the Nord Stream pipeline explosions by determining that the Nord Stream pipelines did, in fact, explode. pic.twitter.com/lchMfM8Zvo
— Harrison H. Smith ✞ (@HarrisonHSmith) February 27, 2024
The Journal claimed that although the operation was approved by President Zelensky with support from his NATO allies, he got cold feet and tried to call it off at the last minute—to no avail. The attack destroyed three of the four strings of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, effectively halting all deliveries of Russian gas to Europe through the pipelines.
German authorities investigating the sabotage have now issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man thought to be in Poland.
