WSJ: Valerii Zaluzhnyi led operation to blow up Nord Streams — approved by Zelensky, then ordered canceled

Germany is investigating the role of former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi in the September 2022 Nord Stream blowing up. He may be the head of the operation, which cost $300 000 and was conducted by six people, including professional divers.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) writes about it with references to sources.

Two years ago in May, several high-ranking Ukrainian military and businessmen celebrated Ukraineʼs success in confronting Russia. Someone proposed a bold step — to destroy Nord Stream, which transports Russian gas to Europe and brings billions of dollars to the Kremlinʼs war machine.

Four months later, on September 26, Scandinavian seismologists detected signals of either an underground earthquake or a volcanic eruption near the Danish island of Bornholm. In fact, it was three powerful explosions and the largest recorded release of natural gas equivalent to annual CO2 emissions in Denmark.

"I always laugh when I read speculations in the media about some large-scale operation with the participation of special services, submarines, drones and satellites. All this was the result of a night of strong alcohol and the sharp determination of a handful of people who had the courage to risk their lives for their country," said one of the officers involved in the operation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky initially approved the plan, but when the US Central Intelligence Agency found out about it and asked to stop the operation, he ordered everything to be canceled. However, the then Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who led the operation, continued it anyway.

Then the original plan was changed. Several experienced Ukrainian special operations officers were involved in the operation. Among them is ex-intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi. They decided to use a small sailing yacht and a crew of six people to blow up the pipelines, which are located almost 80 meters below sea level.

The crew included a military officer, four deep-sea divers and one woman. They had with them scuba diving equipment, a satellite navigation system, a portable sonar and maps of the seabed with the location of the pipelines marked. Their work disabled three of the four pipelines.

After the sabotage, Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Valerii Zaluzhnyi, but he brushed off the criticism. He said that the crew had lost contact after dispatch, so they could not return him.

Currently, the ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom Valerii Zaluzhnyi told journalists that he knows nothing about any such operation. The head of the Security Service (SBU) Vasyl Malyuk also denied Ukraineʼs involvement in the sabotage. Four senior Ukrainian defense and security officials interviewed by the newspaper said unanimously, but anonymously, that the pipelines were a legitimate target in the war.

In June, the German federal prosecutor issued the first warrant for the arrest of a Ukrainian professional diving instructor for his alleged involvement in sabotage. However, the Germans have now focused on Zaluzhnyi and his assistants, even though they have no evidence that can be presented in court.

• On September 26, 2022, three explosions occurred in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines that run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, causing massive gas leaks. Only one of the four threads of the gas pipeline remained intact. The Western media wrote that Russia will preserve the "Nord Streams" because it is not going to repair them after the accidents.
• The governments of the United States, Great Britain and the EU have declared targeted sabotage. Russia believes that the United States and its allies are interested in the explosions. Western and Russian media wrote about different versions — from sabotage by the Russians themselves to the involvement of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Ukraineʼs involvement in sabotage.
• In early February 2024, Sweden closed the investigation into the Nord Stream blow-up due to lack of jurisdiction. Following Sweden, Denmark also completed the investigation.