It was the Washington Post, in collaboration with the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel, which at the weekend published new information about what allegedly happened when the Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were blown up on September 26, 2022. Der Spiegel has been working on this case for a long time, and published in September this year new information that pointed to a Ukrainian sabotage group of six people was behind the explosions that destroyed three of the four pipes in Nord Stream 1 and 2. It has not yet been officially confirmed who is behind the explosion of the pipes and why it happened . Nor can news follow the source basis of the Washington Post and Der Spiegel. Nord Stream – the lines were supposed to transport Russian gas to the markets in Germany and the rest of Europe. But Ukraine and several other Eastern European countries believed from the start that they wanted to make Europe dependent on Russia, also politically. Gas through pipes in the Baltic Sea would also cause Ukraine to miss out on large revenues from transit through the pipes that run through the country. Coordinating role Now the Washington Post and Der Spiegel refer to anonymous sources both inside and outside Ukraine, who point to Ukrainian intelligence officer Roman Chervinsky as the one who coordinated the operation in the Baltic Sea. According to the two media, he himself did not take part directly in the operation, but arranged for it to be carried out. Roman Chervinskyj photographed in connection with a court hearing in Kyiv this autumn. Photo: Zensornet/Yurij Butusov Chervinsky has rejected the accusations through his lawyer, and there have also been no comments from the official Ukrainian side in the case. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly denied that Ukraine had anything to do with the explosion. Responsible for “Wagnergate” But when Roman Chervinskyj’s name is drawn into the Nord Stream case, the spotlight is also put on several of the operations to be carried out by the Ukrainian intelligence service. Perhaps the most spectacular occurred in the summer of 2020. Without all the details being known, everything suggests that the Ukrainian security service then tried to trick mercenaries from the Wagner group into Ukraine, by forcing a plane they were on board to land on Ukrainian soil. Some of these soldiers had taken part on the side of the Russian-backed separatists in the war against the Ukrainian government forces in Donbas from 2014. But the operation ended in failure. Belarusian authorities discovered what was happening, arrested the Wagner soldiers when they spent the night outside Minsk and later extradited them to Russia. Soldiers from the Wagner group during the uprising they carried out at the end of June 2023. Photo: AFP Roman Chervinskyi is said to have been central to this operation, which led to laundering in the secret services in Ukraine. Ukraine had got its Wagnergate, according to the journalism website Bellingcat. Wanted to lure Russian helicopter pilot to defect After Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Chervinsky continued his work behind Russian lines. One of the operations is said to have involved luring Russian helicopter pilots to jump off, together with the helicopters. But one of these operations went wrong. Instead of a defector and a helicopter, the Ukrainian air base Kanatovo had rockets raining down on it on July 23, 2022. In April 2023, Chervinsky was arrested, accused of giving the Russians map coordinates, which allowed the base to be attacked. One person was killed and 17 injured in the Russian attack on the air base. But in August 2023, the Ukrainian defense forces managed to lure a Russian helicopter pilot to flee, along with his helicopter. Is the arrest a revenge for criticism of Zelenskij? The Ukrainian military blogger and journalist Yuriy Butusov believes that Roman Chervinsky has been the victim of a plot and a revenge operation by the Ukrainian authorities. He writes on his blog that the intelligence officer should get a medal, if the stories of the Washington Post and Der Spiegel are correct. Butusov believes that Chervinsky was arrested because of his strong criticism of the Ukrainian authorities for poor preparations before the major Russian attack on February 24, 2022. According to Der Spiegel and the Washington Post, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi was not aware that an attack was being prepared on Nord Stream. But the newspaper writes that sources they have been in contact with believe that Ukrainian army chief Valeryj Zaluzhny knew the plans, but not the details. In any case, there is hardly any doubt that this is not a good thing for Ukraine, a country that is completely dependent on support from the West and wants membership in the EU.
ttn-69
Nord Stream 2 – New charges against Ukrainian intelligence officer – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
