Media: Ukrainian officer coordinated damage to Nord Stream pipelines

Last year’s damage to the German-Russian Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea was coordinated by a commander in Ukraine’s special forces. The US newspaper The Washington Post (WP) and the German magazine Der Spiegel reported this on Saturday, citing anonymous sources in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe. They said it was the clearest signal yet linking Ukrainian military and security officials to the controversial act of sabotage, which Western officials described as a dangerous attack on Europe’s energy infrastructure.

Undersea explosions damaged the Nord Stream 1 pipeline last September. Until Russia halted supplies a month earlier, it had been the main route for Russian natural gas deliveries to Germany and other countries, including the Czech Republic. The blasts also damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which had never been put into operation. The pipelines had long been criticised by the United States and some of its allies, who warned that they threatened Europe’s energy security by increasing its dependence on Russian gas.

Ukraine had also long opposed the pipeline, complaining that Nord Stream would allow Russia to bypass its gas network. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously explicitly denied speculation that Kyiv was behind the damage to the undersea pipelines.

An investigation by an international team of journalists found that officer Roman Chervinsky, who served in Ukraine’s special forces and was involved in a number of other covert operations, played a key coordinating role in the sabotage. According to sources familiar with the case, he led a six-member team that rented a boat and a sailing yacht and used diving equipment to place explosives on the pipelines.

Chervinsky allegedly did not act on his own, but on orders from senior commanders who ultimately reported to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces. According to WP, the sabotage operation was designed to remain concealed from Zelenskyy and his inner circle.

Chervinsky, who was arrested in April this year and charged with abuse of authority in another covert operation by Ukraine’s special forces, denied any role in the pipeline case from detention in Kyiv through his lawyer. He said his imprisonment was political retaliation for criticising President Zelenskyy and his administration – including chief of staff Andriy Yermak, whom he accuses of spying for Russia.

The US newspaper and Der Spiegel said they had asked the Ukrainian government to respond to their investigation, but received no answer.