The Washington Post reported that a Ukrainian military officer was involved in the attack on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline last year. The attack, which took place off the Danish island of Bornholm, ruptured three out of the system’s four lines that deliver Russian gas to Europe. No one has claimed responsibility for the incident.
US and NATO officials labeled the attack as sabotage, while Moscow categorized it as an act of international terrorism. Roman Chervinsky, a former intelligence official who served in the Ukrainian military’s special forces, was said to have managed a six-person team involved in the attack, but he has denied any involvement.
A spokesperson for Ukraine’s military told Reuters that they had no information about the claim. The Ukrainian foreign ministry and Kyiv’s domestic security service, the SBU, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The article also stated that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who has denied Kyiv’s role in the blasts, was unaware of the operation. In the aftermath, Zelenskiy replaced the head of Ukraine’s special operations forces.
Germany, Denmark and Sweden have launched investigations into the Nord Stream explosions, which resulted in the release of methane into the atmosphere for several days. Chervinsky is currently under arrest for exceeding authority after a 2022 attempt to convince a Russian pilot to defect to Ukraine, which investigators say led to a deadly Russian attack on a Ukrainian air base.
An outspoken critic of Zelenskiy’s administration, Chervinsky has claimed that the case against him is politically motivated and that he was following orders in that operation. His commanding officer at the time, Maj. Gen. Viktor Hanushchak, told Ukrainian media earlier this year that senior military leadership had approved the plan to lure the Russian pilot.
The Washington Post and Germany’s Der Spiegel newspaper collaborated on reporting and published separate stories simultaneously. (Reporting by Dan Peleschuk and Tom Balmforth, Editing by William Maclean)
