The latest publications in the Western media about sabotage at Nord Stream are a coordinated stuffing, said the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov.

“Obviously, the authors of the attack want to divert attention,” he said in a commentary to RIA Novosti.

Peskov also expressed bewilderment about how the American officials cited by the publications can assume something about sabotage on gas pipelines without investigation.

The Kremlin spokesman added that Russia is still not allowed to participate in the investigation.

According to him, a few days ago Moscow received corresponding notes from Copenhagen and Stockholm.

“This is not just weird.

This smells like a heinous crime.

At a minimum, the countries that are shareholders of the “flows” and the UN should demand an urgent transparent investigation with the participation of everyone who can shed light, ”Peskov said.

In turn, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, noted that in the issue of undermining the Nord Streams, Washington and London “are following the well-trodden path of using controlled leaks, forming the agenda they need.”

Earlier, several Western media outlets published materials claiming that Ukraine could be involved in the explosions of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.

The New York Times was the first to publish such a version.

Citing anonymous sources in the US leadership, the publication reported that the explosions were carried out by some "pro-Ukrainian group."

Intelligence received by Washington allegedly testifies in favor of this version.

The material claims that the saboteurs were most likely citizens of Ukraine or Russia (or a combination of both), and American or British citizens were not involved in the attack.

It also does not rule out the possibility that the operation could have been unofficially carried out by an "indirect force" with ties to the Ukrainian government or its special services, the newspaper writes.

Anonymous sources told the NYT that the United States did not participate in this sabotage and did not approve it.

Following The New York Times, the German newspaper Die Zeit reported that one of the Western intelligence services in the fall (that is, immediately after the Nord Stream bombing) hinted to its European partners that "Ukrainian special forces are responsible for the destruction of gas pipelines."

It is noted that later information was received from the special services about a certain pro-Ukrainian group that may be involved in the explosions.

According to Die Zeit, the investigators allegedly managed to identify the specific vessel that was used for this covert operation.

“We are talking about a yacht that was rented by a company headquartered in Poland, owned by two citizens of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, a team of six people took part in the secret naval operation.

At the same time, the authors of the publication note that in the circles of the world’s special services “it is not excluded that we can talk about an operation under a false flag” and evidence pointing to the involvement of Ukraine could have been left on purpose.

However, there is no evidence to support this assumption.

Also on russian.rt.com “Shocked by unpunished sabotage”: Lavrov called for an honest investigation into the explosions at Nord Stream

The German Prosecutor General's Office, in response to a request from TASS, confirmed searches were carried out on the ship, which could be involved in the explosions.

At the same time, the department emphasized that it is too early to talk about the nationality of those responsible for the crime.

Finally, on March 8, the British newspaper The Times reported that Western intelligence agencies allegedly knew about the Ukrainian trace in sabotage on gas pipelines a week after the explosions, but NATO did not want to make this data public so as not to complicate relations between Kiev and Berlin.

The publication says that a “private sponsor” was responsible for the sabotage, whose identity was not disclosed by the special services, although it is noted that we are talking about a wealthy Ukrainian who is not associated with President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In Kyiv, Western media reports have denied.

According to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov and adviser to the head of Zelensky's office Mykhailo Podolyak, the Ukrainian side has nothing to do with the sabotage.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, in turn, called Western media reports about the Ukrainian trail hypothetical and did not rule out that it could be an operation under a false flag.

Western diversion

Recall that in September 2022, three strings of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were blown up.

In connection with this, the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation initiated the initiation of a case on an act of international terrorism. 

The Western media immediately began to blame Russia for what had happened.

The Russian Federation also noted that the United States is most likely behind the sabotage as the party most interested in this crime.

Later, in February 2023, American journalist Seymour Hersh confirmed Moscow's version of Washington's fault.

He published an investigation saying that the United States mined Nord Stream in June 2022 under the cover of the NATO exercise BALTOPS 22. In September, the Norwegian Navy remotely activated the explosives, Hersh said.

  • Seymour Hersh

  • Legion Media

  • © CTK

According to the journalist, earlier threats to stop the operation of gas pipelines in the event of an escalation in Ukraine also point to the fault of the United States.

Such statements were made at the beginning of 2022 by US President Joe Biden and Deputy Head of the State Department Victoria Nuland.

Later, the journalist, in an interview with RT, drew attention to the fact that Biden, after the explosions, did not make a single request to the special services to conduct an inspection, despite the fact that he had the entire intelligence apparatus at his disposal.

Hersh also said that the United States could go on sabotage for fear that Germany, which had previously refused to use the gas pipeline, might reconsider its decision against the backdrop of a cold winter. 

The US authorities rejected Hersh's accusations and called them "lies and complete fiction", and the Russian Foreign Ministry, commenting on Hersh's publication, noted that it did not become a sensation for Moscow.

On February 21, at the request of Russia, a meeting on this topic was held in the UN Security Council.

As Dmitry Peskov noted at the time, the discussion in the Security Council helped draw attention to the need for an honest investigation, although Moscow saw the desire of the West to “make this topic disappear into the sand.”

The materials published by Hersh drew attention in China as well.

Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said that if information about the US role in sabotage is confirmed, Washington should be held accountable.

implausible version

According to the director of the Center for Military-Political Studies Alexei Podberezkin, the version of the Ukrainian trace in the terrorist attacks on the Nord Streams looks unrealistic.

“This is a completely implausible version, since only a strong state with a large intelligence service, which is professionally trained for maritime sabotage, is capable of such sabotage.

In Ukraine, there is no such special service, so Kyiv could not implement such an action.

Moreover, the explosion was carried out in a zone that is under the strict control of at least three NATO countries.

You should also not forget that at the time of the sabotage, there was high activity of the Western Navy in this area, ”the analyst said in an interview with RT.

  • The White house

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Walter Bibikow

Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, shares a similar opinion.

“Ukrainian specialists do not have enough technical qualifications for such sabotage.

In addition, such decisions are not made at the level of Ukraine, but higher - in London or, rather, in Washington, ”the expert said in a comment to RT.

Analysts also agreed with Dmitry Peskov's assessment that the simultaneous publication by a number of major Western publications of information about the Ukrainian trace is more like a coordinated stuffing.

“The West needs to somehow react to the publication of Hersh.

After all, the situation is as follows: there was a direct attack on Russia, our reaction followed instantly - we asked for the opportunity to join the investigation.

However, we were denied this.

After the sabotage, the West did not take any further action on this issue, our questions were ignored.

Therefore, when Hersh's article appeared, the US and the EU could not help but react to it, ”said Alexei Podberezkin.

Experts also noted that the only country that was interested in destroying gas pipelines was the United States.

“This was done in the interests of the United States.

Washington thus disconnected Germany from the Nord Streams, which brought her economic benefits.

This disrupted the connection between Germany and Russia," Vadim Kozyulin said.

In turn, Alexei Podberezkin added that the United States, among other things, received economic benefits from what happened.

“Only two intelligence agencies could do this: the British and the American.

Undermining the gas pipeline led to the fact that Europe was cut off from cheap gas and was finally reoriented to the supply of expensive fuel from the United States.

It was beneficial both to Washington and, to some extent, to London, ”concluded the analyst.