Der Spiegel: “Wie ein ukrainisches Geheimkommando Nord Stream sprengte“
Observations:
- Der Spiegel’s detailed account is based on interviews with the perpetrators whose identities are being withheld.
- ~a dozen men and one woman, all Ukrainians, were involved in the sabotage. Some were soldiers, some were civilians; some had past connections with the CIA.
- <$300,000 budget funded by a Ukrainian businessman
- Saboteurs received no payments
- Low tech operation using the sailboat Andromeda
- The article includes details on how the mission was accomplished.
- To the commandos, Nord Stream sabotage was viewed as a military objective, a legitimate act of self defense.
- The team understood that only a small hole in the outer wall would suffice to burst the pipe given the gas pressure in the lines.
- Tested bomb designs in a lake, and trained in a flooded mine to depths of 100 m.
- Zelensky was not fully trusted and was intentionally not informed of the plan. (However, the authors are not completely ruling out some Zelensky involvement in the planning.)
- Western intelligence heard about the plan 3 months before the operation. Zelensky was then informed by a CIA officer in Kiev.
- A CIA agent contacted one of the commandos who he knew. To protect the mission, the commando said he didn’t know anything about such a plan, but would inquire further.
- The commandos decided they needed to get on with the operation before sea conditions worsened in the fall.
- 6 bombs were planted under sometimes difficult conditions. One did not explode, so the Nord Stream 2 B pipeline remained intact.
Der Spiegel’s account seems credible. If that is the case, Seymour Hersh and his informant have some explaining to do.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 