Former agents and divers in the Nord Stream sabotage squad — Extremnews

According to a media report, the sabotage commando of the bomb attack on the Nord Stream pipelines consisted of several Ukrainian divers, who are easily recognized as civilians. The operation was apparently led and planned by a former secret service agent, reports “Spiegel”.

It was said that the Ukrainian had put together a team, trained them and then sent them into action. A commando soldier was said to have been in command on board the sailing yacht chartered for the mission. The crew also included a skipper and an assistant.

The operation, which cost almost $300,000 and which insiders say had to be privately financed, was allegedly submitted to the then commander-in-chief of Ukraine, Valery Saluzhny, for authorization, claims Der Spiegel. He allegedly gave the green light. President Volodymyr Selensky, however, was not informed by the command, the magazine continues.

According to the report, the Dutch military intelligence service had reported to the CIA and German authorities in a warning sent in June 2022 that an attack was being prepared by a group that reported “immediately” to the Ukrainian Chief of General Staff. Zelensky was apparently to be bypassed.

Saluschny later denied any processing. The Washington Post said that after the Nord Stream sabotage, he assured the highest US military officer, Mark Milley, that Ukraine had nothing to do with it, “nothing at all”. According to the Spiegel report, the deliberations for the commando operation began years before the Russian attack on Ukraine. But they were intensified again after the war began in spring 2022. In a first step, divers were sought who could operate at depths of up to 100 meters and were prepared to take great health risks.

The actors’ calculation was clearly to inflict serious damage on the Russian war economy and permanently deprive it of billions in revenue from gas sales to Europe. The group viewed the pipelines as a legitimate military target. The Federal Prosecutor General, the Federal Police and the Federal Criminal Police Office have been investigating anti-constitutional sabotage for two years.

Source: dts news agency