Report claims Nord Stream pipelines sabotaged by Ukraine; Zelenskiy's aide responds

File pic shows release of gas emanating from a leak on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline (AFP)

The blowing-up of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022 by a small Ukrainian sabotage team was approved by senior officials in Volodymyr Zelenskiy's administration in Kyiv, a report by the Wall Street Journal said Thursday, with President initially giving his support.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Ukraine's top military commander at the time, Valery Zaluzhny, was in charge of the plan to destroy the pipelines, which were crucial for delivering Russian gas to Europe. The idea reportedly took shape during a meeting of high-ranking Ukrainian military officers and businessmen in May 2022, a few months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The operation, involving six individuals, is said to have cost around $300,000 and was privately funded. The team allegedly sailed to the pipeline's location on a rented yacht, where they then dove to place explosives on the pipelines.

Although Zelensky initially approved the mission, but when the CIA learned of the plan they requested that he halt the operation, prompting him to pull the plug. However, Zaluzhny, who was later removed from his post earlier this year, pressed ahead with the mission.

According to Ukrainian officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, the military commander argued that the mission could not be called off once the team had been dispatched. He reportedly told Zelensky that "it's like a torpedo—once you fire it at the enemy, you can’t pull it back again; it just keeps going until it goes 'boom.'"

When contacted by the Journal, Zaluzhny, who is now Ukraine's ambassador to Britain, denied any knowledge of the operation and dismissed the claims as a "mere provocation."

Notably, the report comes a day after German media outlets had reported that German investigators probing the sabotage were now focusing on Ukraine, and had issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man identified as “Volodymyr Z”.

“Volodymyr Z” is believed to be a diving instructor who lived in Poland and is alleged to have dived down to the seabed to place the devices on the pipeline.

Nord Stream's pipelines were central to geopolitical tensions, particularly after Russia reduced gas supplies to Europe in what was widely seen as retaliation for Western sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.

Four large gas leaks were discovered in September 2022 near the Danish island of Bornholm, with seismic institutes recording two underwater explosions just before the leaks were detected.

Meanwhile,  Ukrainian has denied rejected the claims by the Journal as "absolute nonsense".

"Ukraine's involvement in the Nord Stream explosions is absolute nonsense. There was no practical sense in such actions for Ukraine," presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak told AFP.