Ukrainian official ignored Zelenskyy's orders in 'big drink' fueled Nord Stream plot: report

A top Ukrainian general ignored President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's orders and went ahead with a plan to blow up a Russian gas pipeline, an operation stemming from a “heavy drinking” session among officials, several Ukrainian officials told Wall Street and people familiar with the matter. diary

The speculation has surrounded the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline, an underwater pipeline system that carries gas directly from Russia to Germany, which suffered mysterious explosion damage in 2022. While no perpetrator has been officially named by the United States, four senior officials of Defense of Ukraine, speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the WSJ that they had participated in or had direct knowledge of the destruction of the pipeline in an operation that both Zelenskyy and the CIA attempted to stopbut it failed.

“I always laugh when I read media speculation about a huge operation involving the Secret Service, submarines, drones and satellites,” an official involved in the operation told the WSJ. “It was all born of a night of heavy drinking and the iron determination of a handful of people who had the courage to risk their lives for their country.”

Ukrainian military officers and businessmen gathered in a bar in May 2022 to celebrate their country's success in eliminating Russia's current situation. invasion of Ukraine and came up with the idea to destroy the pipeline, after deeming it a legitimate military target, according to the WSJ. The businessmen agreed to finance the operation, which would end up costing $300,000, and top Ukrainian general Valeriy Zaluzhny would lead the effort.

Zelenskyy gave the green light to the plan within days, the four officials told the WSJ. But the CIA learned of the plot after being tipped off by a European intelligence agency the following month and quickly warned Zelenskyy's office to halt the operation, U.S. officials and people with knowledge of the matter told the WSJ. direct knowledge of the matter.

Zelenskyy later ordered Zaluzhniy to abort the plan, but Zaluzhniy ignored Zelenskyy and continued with the operation, according to Ukrainian and Western officials familiar with the conversation who spoke to the WSJ. Zaluzhniy assigned special operations officers to help craft the plan, which was modified to reduce costs and complexities.

Zaluzhniy and the team chartered a small yacht in September 2022 and recruited military and civilian divers to dive hundreds of feet underwater, place high explosives in the pipe and open it, according to Ukrainian officials and people with direct knowledge of the matter. . The plan was successfully carried out on September 26, 2022.

The fallout from the pipeline sabotage led to a spike in energy prices in Europe and quickly led to accusations of sabotage from Russia and the West. Zelenskyy privately reprimanded Zaluzhniy, but was met with outrage as Zaluzhniy claimed it was impossible to stop the operation once underway, according to three people familiar with the discussion speaking to the WSJ.

“He was told it's like a torpedo: Once you fire it at the enemy, you can't pull it back, it just keeps going until it goes 'boom,'” a senior officer familiar with the conversation told the WSJ.

A senior official of Ukraine's intelligence agency told the WSJ that Kiev did not participate in the sabotage and that Zelensky “did not approve the implementation of such actions on the territory of third countries and did not issue orders relevant”. Zaluzhniy, who was dismissed from his military post this year and is now a diplomat in Kiev, told the WSJ that he knew nothing about the operation and that the suggestion he was involved was a “mere provocation,” adding that the Ukraine's armed forces were not allowed to conduct operations abroad, to begin with.

Germany, which was tipped off by the US about the plan at the same time the CIA warned Zelenskyy against it, has been conducting a two-year investigation into the matter, pouring over physical and digital evidence and potential witnesses, according to several officials . and people familiar with the probe. German federal prosecutors in June quietly filed an arrest warrant against a Ukrainian diving instructor for his involvement in the plot, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ.

public reports of the arrest warrant against the diving instructor emerged Wednesday. He has not yet been arrested because he traveled to Ukraine in July. seconds to the American politician.

Kiev publicly maintains that it had no role in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

“Ukraine's participation in the Nord Stream explosions is absolute nonsense. There was no practical sense in these actions for Ukraine,” presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak told Agence France-Presse (AFP). seconds at Barron's.

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