White House Knew of Ukrainian Plot to Blow Up Nord Stream: WaPo

Three months before the Nord Stream pipeline exploded in what was almost certainly a brazen act of international sabotage, the Biden administration was informed of a conspiracy by the Ukrainian military to target the energy project for destruction a new report from the Washington Post.

The warning about Ukraine’s plans came months before the explosion and disruption of the oil pipeline that stretched across the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany and supplied cheap natural gas to numerous European energy marketsIt is about a controversial partnership between the Russian state energy company Gazprom and a number of EU-based energy companies.

For months, governments have publicly speculated about who might be responsible for the energyThe Post now reports that news of an apparent Ukrainian conspiracy reached US and European leaders as early as last June. The news first came from a European intelligence agency, which relayed the information to the CIA. The CIA then informed both the White House and a number of European governments of the intelligence information. The report, based on information from an individual in Ukraine, spoke of an apparent plot by six Ukrainian special forces who planned to assume false identities, rent a boat and then dive to the bottom of the Baltic Sea to destroy the large ship Pipeline.

This newly reported intelligence also appears to confirm what investigators in Germany – one of three governments currently investigating the Nord Stream blast – recently uncovered about the attack. The Post reports:

German investigators now According to officials familiar with the investigation, we understand six people hired a sailing yacht in September using fake passports, boarded from Germany and planted explosives that severed the pipelines. They believe the rescuers were experienced divers because the explosives were placed at a depth of about 240 feet, the depth at which experts say helium would be helpful in maintaining mental focus.

Investigators have linked the explosive residue found in the pipeline to traces in the cabin of the yacht named Andromeda. And they have linked Ukrainian people to renting the boat through what appears to be a front company in Poland. Investigators also suspect that at least one Ukrainian serviceman was involved in the sabotage operation.

This news, which is shocking enough as it is, is made even stranger by the manner in which the Post appears to have obtained this information. The newspaper claims to have obtained the above-mentioned intelligence report on the Ukraine conspiracy from an “online friend”. Jack Teixeirathe 21-year-old US airman who was accused leaky Publish top secret defense information on the Internet. The information was previously shared by Teixeira on Discord, where this friend is believed to have received it.

The Nord Stream sabotage: an ever-changing narrative

As it stands, the destruction of the Nord Stream could go down as one of the greatest disasters in history most consequential actions of international terrorism ever — a fact that makes finding those responsible a clear priority. Still, attempts to unmask the culprits have been thwarted by ongoing speculation that has constantly shifted over time.

Western and Ukrainian officials arrived immediately after the pipeline was destroyed accused Russia – with an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vocation The explosion was “a terrorist attack planned by Russia and an act of aggression against.” [the European Union].” But there were obvious problems with this theory. criticism pointed out that there was little point in Russia blowing up its own pipeline. The Nord Stream was considered a big moneymaker for the Kremlin and, with its connections to the European energy markets, was considered an important negotiating tool for Putin Diplomatic disputes with the EU about the war in Ukraine.

Russia on the other hand accused The West is behind the attack, pointing fingers at the UK. “Our intelligence services have data indicating that British military specialists directed and coordinated the attack,” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said in October, shortly after the blast. Peskov then declined to comment further or provide any information as to why Russia suspected British involvement.

In February, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh published one report to his substack who found a new perpetrator for the crime. Citing an anonymous senior government insider, Hersh accused the Biden administration of being behind the Nord Stream attack and claimed that the White House and other parts of the government — including the CIA — orchestrated a sophisticated operation in which Navy divers to Placing explosives were used on the pipeline. The plan reportedly called for BALTOPs, an annual Navy diving exercise, as cover for the mission. After Hersh’s story broke, the White House vehemently denied the allegations.

Not long after Hersh’s story was published, the New York Times came out his own version of events citing anonymous government insiders who said a mysterious “pro-Ukrainian group” could be behind the attack. The story was pretty poor. Anonymous sources told the Times that this so-called group may consist of Ukrainian and/or Russian individuals, but are not believed to have any ties to the Ukrainian government or its military. The only thing the sources were sure of was that it was that group definitive had no affiliations with the US or UK government; Beyond that, almost nothing else was known about its members or activities.

Now, with the story of the Post, we have an entirely new version of events – one that doesn’t seem to match any of the previous iterations of this ongoing speculative saga. The only thing the Post’s story has in common with its predecessors is that it raises more questions than it answers.

lingering questions

Of course, the first question the Post report raises is: If the Biden administration had information that Ukraine was planning to blow up the Nord Stream pipeline, did they make any reasonable attempt to step in and prevent such an attack? ? If not, why not?

Another pertinent question concerns the origin of the mail: Who is this “online friend” of Jack Teixeira who provided this intelligence report? If information about this sensitivity has been shared with other web users, why hasn’t an effort been made to investigate and debunk it? How many “friends” did Teixeira have? What is the problem?

Finally, perhaps the biggest question: how this news could affect the outcome of the Ukraine war itself. If further investigations corroborate the Post’s version and reveal that the Ukrainian military is responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream, it will essentially position the EU to support a country that is instigating one of the worst economic terrorist attacks in history has vivid memories. How might this affect the ongoing diplomatic entanglements that characterize Europe’s relationship to the war?

Calls for an international investigation into the Nord Stream incident have been raised recently rejected decided by the United Nations Security Council, but it really looks like they want to reconsider. Someone needs to get to the bottom of this, and to avoid further rampant finger-pointing, it might help if we all just do it together.