The British edition of The Times reported that Western intelligence had known for months the name of a Ukrainian private sponsor who allegedly financed the blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. It was deliberately decided not to disclose his name in order to protect Ukraine.
Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Podolyak believes that this information from the media will not affect the attitude of our allies towards the war, namely, the assessment of Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine. He told Channel 24 about this.
Russia wanted to scare Europe
He noted that when analyzing the excess in the Baltic Sea that occurred in September 2022, one should not forget about the motives of the one who could do it.
Then Russia wanted to scare Europe that it would freeze because it would be left without Russian gas. To do this, the aggressor country constantly created technical problems on gas pipelines, primarily Nord Stream 1. There was always something damaged, and Russia could not fix it. And after that, the gas pipelines were blown up,” Podolyak noted.
In his opinion, the only country that had motives to do this in order to increase pressure on the then European partners was only Russia.
Interview with Mikhail Podolyak: watch the video
We don't need it
Ukraine had no motives for doing this, because the blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipelines:
- did not influence the course of the war;
- did not deplete the resources of Russia – did not directly affect what it would do on the battlefield;
- did not prevent Russia from waging war against Ukraine. Moreover, this would create informational grounds for Russia to say, they say, “we are not only attacking, but also being the injured party.”
This is nonsense. We do not need this either from a tactical or a strategic point of view,” the adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine emphasized.
In his opinion, the accents in the media publications are surprisingly placed: a certain pro-Ukrainian group, which does not include citizens of Ukraine.
“Besides, there is no official confirmation that Ukraine is somehow involved in these incidents,” Mykhailo Podolyak said.
The Times version of the “Ukrainian trace” in the sabotage at Nord Stream
- In its publication, the British publication noted that a week after the explosions at Nord Stream, intelligence information was received, from which it turned out that the sabotage was not organized by the Americans, Russians or Poles. It was a private initiative of Ukraine.
- According to the publication, the Ukrainian, whose name is not called a private sponsor of the explosions, is not associated with the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
- According to The Times journalists, NATO officials wanted to save Ukraine from a public quarrel with Germany, which delayed the delivery of military aid, including Leopard 2 tanks and IRIS-T air defense systems.
- The publication suggests that, apparently, in Germany they knew who was responsible before the presidential administration or the Ministry of Defense in Kyiv, which “were stunned by the report and deny their involvement.”
- The Times added that the name of the “influential figure” who financed the operation “is sure to come up, especially considering that he left a kind of calling card.”
