New intelligence reviewed by U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly indicates that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the attacks on the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines last year.
Unnamed U.S. officials briefed on new intelligence said that it indicated that pro-Ukrainian actors, likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, were behind the explosions, the New York Times reported Tuesday.
The U.S. officials said they do not have evidence that the group was tied to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky or that the perpetrators were acting on the orders of any Ukrainian government officials. They declined to disclose additional details about the nature of the intelligence, including details of how it was obtained.
Ukraine denied any involvement in the explosions Tuesday.
“Although I enjoy collecting amusing conspiracy theories about Ukraine’s government, I have to say: Ukraine has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about ‘pro-Ukrainian sabotage groups,'” Zelensky adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Twitter.
The twin Nord Stream gas pipelines were hit by four undersea blasts in September. European officials said the explosions caused “extensive damage” to Nord Stream 1, the main gas artery linking Russia to the EU and supplying the bulk of the bloc’s supplies until Moscow began throttling its deliveries last summer.
Western officials, including in the United States, had described it as an act of “sabotage,” though they had stopped short of blaming any individuals or countries involved in the attack.
Swedish and Danish security authorities have been separately investigating the explosions, which occurred in their exclusive economic zones. Neither country has finished its investigation or named a culprit in the explosions.
Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer-winning investigative journalist and former New Yorker staff writer whose recent reporting has frequently come under scrutiny from both the Bush and Obama administrations, claimed last month in a Substack post that the Nord Stream blasts were a long-planned covert operation carried out by Navy divers operating under the cover of NATO military exercises.
His reporting cited an anonymous source and was denied by the White House.
