Sabotage of gas pipelines: Nord Stream: Kremlin deems reports implausible

The Kremlin has called the reports of an alleged pro-Ukrainian group behind the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines untrustworthy. “As for the pro-Ukrainian ‘Doctor Evil’, who is said to have organized all this, it’s hard to believe,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Interfax news agency. Few intelligence agencies could accomplish such a task, he added.

At the end of September there were underwater explosions on the Baltic Sea pipeline, which runs from Russia to Germany. Both strands of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and one strand of Nord Stream 2 suffered a leak. According to investigators, an act of sabotage is responsible for the explosion. ARD, SWR and “Zeit” had recently reported that a group consisting of six people rented a ship and probably then transported the explosives to the pipelines in the Baltic Sea. Two of the people have Ukrainian passports. However, a connection to government agencies cannot be established.

accusation against the United States

Rather, Peskow renewed the accusation against the United States and Great Britain. “You see that the Anglo-Saxons, who we talked about from the beginning, are getting busy. They have a lot of troubles in relations with the Germans because of the terrorist attack, that’s obvious,” said Peskov.

Shortly after the attack, Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin blamed the “Anglo-Saxons” – that is, the British and the Americans. However, Russia, whose relations with the West are deeply shattered mainly because of the war against Ukraine, is itself considered a possible suspect. After all, at the time of the blast, the country had already stopped supplying gas to Europe through the Baltic Sea.