The U.S. learned of a Ukrainian plan to attack the Nord Stream gas pipelines three months before explosions damaged them, the Washington Post has reported.
The newspaper cited information allegedly leaked online earlier this year by a U.S. Air National Guard member who had access to many highly classified materials.
The leaked documents indicate that an unnamed European intelligence agency told the CIA in June 2022 about a plan by Ukrainian special operations forces to blow up the pipelines built to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany.
The Post report is supported by information gathered by German investigators that a six-person team using false passports took a large sailboat from the German port of Rostock in Sep 2022 to undertake the operation.
Several underwater explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines on Sep 26. The blasts occurred in the economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. Both countries said the explosions were deliberate but have not determined who was responsible.
Washington and NATO called the incident “an act of sabotage.” According to Reuters, Moscow blamed the West, accusing investigators of dragging their feet and trying to conceal who was behind the attack.
