The Washington Post quoted leaked documents that the CIA learned through a European spy agency that Ukrainian forces planned to blow up the Nord Stream line that occurred in September last year.
Several explosions of unknown cause on September 26 that occurred underwater damaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 lines, which connect Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea.
The blasts occurred in two economic zones belonging to Sweden and Denmark, which both countries say were deliberate and that they and Germany are investigating the incident but have not yet identified those responsible.
According to the Washington Post, the administration of US President Joe Biden has learned from a close ally that the Ukrainian army planned a secret attack on the natural gas pipeline, extending from Russia to Germany, "Nord Stream", carried out by a small team consisting of 6 members of divers who follow the commander of the Ukrainian armed forces.
The newspaper added – citing leaked documents – that the European intelligence report includes accurate evidence linking the government of Ukraine to the attack in the Baltic Sea, and that US intelligence shared its information with Germany and European countries last June.
Ukrainian officials, who previously denied that their country was involved in the attack, did not respond to requests for comment, and the White House declined to comment on a detailed set of questions about the European report and the alleged Ukrainian military plot, including whether U.S. officials tried to prevent the mission.
Russian protest
In May, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of Germany, Sweden and Denmark to protest what it described as a "lack of results" in a special investigation into explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
Moscow accused the three countries of deliberately dragging their feet on the investigation and trying to hide who was behind the bombings, and said it was unhappy with what it called the vague nature of the investigation and its refusal to deal with Russia.
The United States and NATO have called the blasts an "act of sabotage", while Moscow blames the West and neither side has provided any evidence.
American journalist Seymour Hersh accused the media and prominent US authorities of keeping a secret about Washington's involvement in the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
On February 8, Hersh published an article about his investigation into gas pipeline explosions, stating that during a NATO exercise in the summer of 2022, American divers planted explosives under gas pipes, which the Norwegians activated three months later.
After the investigation was published, Russia asked for clarification from the United States about the incident, but the Pentagon said at the time that the United States had nothing to do with the bombings.
US National Security Council spokeswoman Adrian Watson called Hersh's investigation "a figment of the imagination", while the European Commission called the findings of the investigation merely speculative.