Reznikov denies Ukraine’s involvement in Nord Stream explosions
Oleksiy Reznikov (Photo:REUTERS/Johanna Geron)
Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov has denied claims that Ukraine was involved in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion last September, Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform reported on March 8.
The minister expressed confidence that the full details of the incident would be established during the official investigation.
“For me, this is a rather strange story that has nothing to do with us,” he said.
“I think that an official investigation by the appropriate authorities will reveal all the details. It would be a certain compliment to our special forces, but those were not our actions,” Reznikov said.
U.S. newspaper the New York Times reported on March 7 that a “pro-Ukrainian group” might have been behind the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, citing U.S. officials who have seen new U.S. intelligence and who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A sharp drop of pressure was recorded in the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 on Sept. 26, and the next day there were reports of the same problem with Nord Stream 1.
Both pipelines travel along the bottom of the Baltic Sea near the shores of Sweden and Denmark. Neither were operational at the time, but both were filled with technical gas.
The incident took place at a depth of about 70 meters near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea – outside Denmark’s territorial waters but in its exclusive economic zone.
Three large leaks from the pipelines were later discovered. Then, on Sept. 29, the Swedish Coast Guard reported a fourth gas leak.
Poland and Ukraine have blamed Russia for the explosions. The Kremlin, in turn, has denied involvement and in turn blamed the “Anglo-Saxons” – a common Kremlin euphemism for the English-speaking Western nations.
The underwater explosions that occurred along the route of the pipelines were obviously artificial and not geological in nature, concluded Swedish National Seismological Center SNSN professor, Björn Lund.
In November 2022, Sweden’s security service confirmed that it had found remnants of explosives near the pipelines.
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