Report: Intelligence Leak Alleges ‘Pro-Ukrainian Group’ Blew Up Nord Stream Pipeline

The far-left New York Times claimed Tuesday that a “pro-Ukrainian group” blew up the strategic Nord Stream pipeline that carried natural gas from Russia to Europe, citing intelligence of an unknown origin allegedly reviewed by anonymous sources.

The pipeline explosion in September 2022 caused an environmental disaster and an estimated $500,000 worth of damage. No investigations have officially identified a culprit.

Helikopter Wing / Danish Defence

The Times published a report citing an alleged intelligence leak, but not identifying the source of the intelligence beyond identifying it as “newly collected intelligence.” The newspaper claimed it had unnamed American officials review the information. Those officials reportedly refused to provide how the intelligence “was obtained or any details of the strength of the evidence.”

The leak suggested non-state opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin performed the sabotage. The alleged leak did not specify the identity of the group or who paid for the complex and very skilled pipeline explosions that caused what Inside Climate News described as “the largest-ever release of the potent greenhouse gas during a single event.”

European officials have said the Nord Stream rupture was likely a state-sponsored attack because of the sophistication required to execute such a bombing. Publicly available reports speculate the destruction was caused by detonated explosives on the floor of the Baltic Sea, taking place without detection by its owner, a subsidiary of the Russian energy giant Gazprom. European companies are also part owners in the Russian pipeline that transferred vital fossil fuel to Europe.

Nord Stream 2, a second pipeline affected by the leaks, was completed but had never been used to transport fuel, as its completion would have occurred nearly at the same time as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, prompting hesitancy from Russia’s European partners.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline leaks are ~75 kilometers apart (so, two very distinctive incidents). The Danish military has dropped 3 beacons over the leaks to signal the danger. You can see them here via @MarineTraffic data (red circle).

My latest: https://t.co/r9IMnMrYl7 pic.twitter.com/El6J9gNjXp

— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) September 27, 2022

The alleged leaked intelligence in Tuesday’s report suggests the attack was not state sponsored. According to the Times report, U.S. officials who “reviewed” the intelligence believe the “saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two.” In addition, the leak left open “the possibility that the operation might have been conducted off the books by a proxy force with connections to the Ukrainian government or its security services,” but refused to provide any certainty on the nationality of the perpetrators.

The New York Times won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for its coverage of Ukraine — namely, reports falsely claiming that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin was not engaging in the Holodomor, a genocide that killed at least 1.5 million Ukrainians, mostly through starvation. The reporter who won the prize, Walter Duranty, referred to the genocide as a “scare story” designed to terrorize the West and to the victims of the genocide as “hungry, but not starving.”