Ukrainians likely involved in Nord Stream blasts – media – RT World News
Two outlets claim to have identified individuals potentially linked to sabotage
At least two Ukrainian nationals are linked to a yacht that German authorities are allegedly investigating in connection with the Nord Stream explosions last September, media in Switzerland and Germany have reported. Western media have previously claimed that traces of weapons-grade explosives were detected on board the vessel.
The allegations were made in articles published on Sunday by the Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger and the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung.
Tages-Anzeiger claimed to have tracked down what appeared to be a front company, Feeria Lwowa, which allegedly charted the ship in question – the Andromeda – last fall. Based in Warsaw, the Polish capital, the company claims to operate as a tourism agency but apparently has no phone number, no website and no employees, the outlet said.
According to Tages-Anzeiger, the company is registered in the name of two Ukrainians, one of whom lives in Crimea and has Russian citizenship. The person denied any involvement with Feeria Lwowa when interviewed by telephone by the newspaper.
The second person is a woman described in Polish records as the president of the company. She confirmed to the Tages-Anzeiger that she held the position, but declined to answer further questions. The article claimed that there were several other companies registered in his name in Poland and Ukraine.
Tages-Anzeiger reported that the Andromeda had been the focus of investigation by German authorities for some time. Although its exact route remains unknown, the vessel is believed to have passed through the area where explosions then destroyed the two Nord Stream gas pipelines, according to the report.
According to the newspaper, investigators found traces of explosives that could be used underwater on board the vessel, echoing claims from a New York Times report in April. In addition, officials reportedly identified one of the six crew members, who presented fake Romanian and Bulgarian passports, as a 26-year-old Ukrainian from a town southeast of Kiev. The individual is said to have served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Tages-Anzeiger suggested that German investigators lean towards the version that a state intelligence service was involved in the attack. Authorities are also skeptical that Russia was behind the explosion, according to the newspaper.
Earlier this month, senior Russian diplomat Konstantin Gavrilov revealed that the United States had not responded to Moscow’s request for information about the case.
In early February, veteran American journalist Seymour Hersh published a bombshell report accusing the United States of destroying the main gas route.
While Washington has dismissed the allegations as “completely wrong,“Russian President Vladimir Putin said in late March that he”fully agree” with the findings of Hersh.
rt Gt
