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On November 11, 2023, The Washington Post published an article concerning anonymous sources in Ukraine and Europe, claiming that a Ukrainian military officer, SBU colonel Roman Chervinskyy, coordinated the blasts at the Nord Streams [pipelines] in September 2022. An article with a similar conclusion also appeared in Der Spiegel on November 12, 2023.
The news was published in the world media and created a lot of noise, which should have assured that it was the Ukrainian military that sabotaged the Nord Streams.
Military intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyy, notified in April 2023 by the Security Service of Ukraine of suspicion of exceeding official powers, is currently in custody. Following the publication in the Western media, Chervinskyy (via his lawyer) claimed in a written statement to The Washington Post and Der Spiegel that "All speculations about my involvement in the Nord Stream attack are spread by Russian propaganda on baseless grounds."
The question of who is involved in the damage to the gas pumps has occasionally been raised in the media since the beginning of 2023. However, there is still no clear, affirmative, and reasoned answer. Instead, we have insider information, in which one can notice the American or Ukrainian traces.
The Russian-German gas pipelines, which were built at the expense of Gazprom since the mid-2000s, have become an energy weapon of the Kremlin against Ukraine and Europe. Energy was and remains one of the critical Russian propaganda topics, where Ukraine is a "thief of Russian gas from the Europeans" and, therefore, it is an "unreliable partner for the EU."
DM further analyzes how Russia manipulates the topic of sabotage at the Nord Streams in the context of the information battle against Ukraine.
The September 26, 2022, events in the Baltic Sea — the detonation of three of the four Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines — became the largest sabotage of energy facilities in world history. But if we consider that the damaged pipes were created at Russia's expense and in its interests, then the context becomes more apparent.
"Ukraine steals gas from Europe"
Here, we provide some background information. Moscow built "Nord Streams" to deprive Ukraine of the status of natural gas transistor.
Since Soviet times, the majority of gas from the USSR to Europe has been transported through Ukrainian territory. In 1968, the USSR signed a contract for gas supply from Western Siberia to Austria. In the early 1970s, a gas contract was signed between the USSR and Germany. At the same time, the construction of the Urengoy — Pomari — Uzhhorod gas pipeline began to supply gas from the USSR to Western and Central Europe.
In the early 2000s, Ukraine, Russia, and Germany had ideas for a joint project (consortium) between the three. Russia wanted to negotiate separately with Germany first and then with Ukraine. Due to Russian sabotage, the tripartite consortium was not implemented.
Therefore, since the early 2000s, Moscow has promoted the idea of building gas pipelines bypassing Ukraine ("North Stream" through the Baltic Sea and "South Stream" through the Black and Mediterranean Seas). In parallel, Russia waged gas wars against Ukraine (2006 and 2009) when Gazprom accused Ukraine of stealing gas that EU countries were supposed to receive. Information-wise, Moscow aimed to form a negative image of Ukraine in Western countries: "Kyiv should not be trusted, but with Russia, your business is safe."
Following this, the thesis that "Europe will freeze because of Ukraine" was spread by Russian propaganda. After all, Ukraine (according to the Russian version — DM note) is a "404 state" where "corruption reigns", so it is better to do joint energy projects with Gazprom than with Ukrainian companies.
Thus, the idea of Russian gas flows to Europe, but not through Ukraine, became a reality. In 2011, Nord Stream 1 was put into operation. Nord Stream 2 was supposed to start operating in February 2022, but certification from Germany stood in the way. Due to the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the launch of the gas pipeline did not take place.
In the summer of 2022, Russia staged a scandal with Germany and Canada regarding Siemens turbines. Gazprom stated that one of the turbines was damaged and needed to be replaced. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said in August 2022 that Ottawa was ready to provide six turbines. Then Moscow replied that due to sanctions (for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine — DM note), it was impossible to get the turbine, which had already been delivered from Canada to Germany. After August 31, 2022, Russia stopped supplying gas through Nord Stream 1. Therefore, the detonation on September 26 occurred on streams that were no longer working (one was suspended, and the other has not started operating yet).
In 2021, Detector Media studied Russian disinformation about Nord Stream 2 in social networks using the TikTok example. At that time, the main agitational propaganda messages were: "The European impossibility to survive without a gas engine" and "Ukraine has failed as expected [as a country], and it should be waiting for a full decline". Many TikTok accounts, spreading Russian propaganda about gas, Russia, and Ukraine, glorified Putin.
"The CIA was in charge, but the Norwegians were the ones who blew it up"
The latest publications continue a series of Western media materials in which the alleged real perpetrators of sabotage have been found. In February 2023, 85-year-old American investigative journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Seymour Hersh published a blog on Subsatck (an American online text platform providing subscriptions to newsletters, created in 2017 — DM note), where he accused the United States of America of blowing up the pipes. Hersh won the Pulitzer in 1970 (that is, 53 years ago) for his coverage of the mass killing of American civilians in Vietnam.
According to his "version", the CIA allegedly directed a special operation, which the Norwegians probably carried out.
Damage to the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. Center for Eastern Studies map. Source.
The European Union anti-disinformation portal EUvsDisinfo refuted the assumptions made by Hersh. Instead, the text was quoted on Twitter by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia with a call to start an international investigation. It should be noted that a blog differs from publication materials as editors do not proofread it before publication, and is not checked for authenticity. Therefore, it is a playground for private opinions and assessments, not editorial material.
The EUvsDisinfo article also cited factual inaccuracies in Hersch's text. When Snopes portal asked the author to explain why his arguments were based on an anonymous source and whether anyone checked them before publication, Hersh said he was defending his sources.
Mykhailo Honchar, the researcher of international energy and security relations president of the Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI", explained in a comment to Detector Media how exactly Russia, through Western media, accuses Ukraine of sabotaging the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
"Recent publications comprise the third or fourth wave [of informational attacks], starting from February. The version misses a specific fact that could indicate the involvement of the Ukrainian side. The main sources of information are some anonymous sources that remain unnamed. However, it is a typical technique for spreading manipulative information or disinformation," — said the expert.
"A Ukrainian soldier blew up the Streams, while a Ukrainian intelligence officer coordinated the attack"
In March, Zeit publication posted a joint investigation with ARD and SWR broadcasters stating that the blasting of the gas pipelines took place with the help of the Andromeda yacht. The 15-meter Bavaria Cruiser 50 yacht was allegedly rented by unknown persons on Rügen island (Germany).
At the end of March 2023, T-online published an investigation showing the movement of naval ships in September 2022. According to photos taken by the Danish navy, Russian ships could have transported explosives for the streams. In addition, according to T-online journalists, a week before the detonation, the Russian Baltic Fleet held large-scale maneuvers on the streams. Therefore, the Russians disguised their training to prepare for explosions on gas burners. It must be noted that it is only one of the versions, not a final verdict.
In April, Hersh published another blog post on Substack, where he voiced the version that CIA operatives chartered the yacht "Andromeda" to carry out this sabotage. It should be emphasized that the blog is an independent work of its author and not an editorial because no one edits or checks the blog before its publication.
Moreover, in June, The Washington Post (WP) published a post in which the authors assume that the CIA coordinated the Ukrainian military’s special operation. Journalists cite that according to "secret intelligence documents", the Ukrainians allegedly planned the sabotage during the BALTOPS naval exercise in June 2022. However, in the end, it was postponed for three months.
In the WP text, the authors assume that the entire operation was directed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyy. Moreover, Zaluzhnyy should have consulted on such "special operations" with Zelenskyy, but the WP journalists wrote he did not do so.
Mykhailo Honchar says that, given the scale of the sabotage, it would be challenging to implement it from a tourist yacht: "The Ukrainian trace version is based on the "Andromeda" yacht, on board of which explosives were found. It is allegedly the same explosive used in detonating the Nord Streams. The version with a yacht does not stand up to criticism since this vessel is not adapted for this kind of operation. It was the first large-scale act of sabotage for a large gas transportation system in underwater marine conditions," — said the president of the Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI".
Honchar has already researched the themes of undermining Nord Streams in security and published analytics on the Center for Journalistic Investigations website and Glavkom. The researcher singled out the technical points, namely, the construction of gas pipes. The pipes are located at the bottom of the Baltic Sea and are filled with stones to stabilize them. According to Honchar, three million tons of stone are needed to stabilize two pipelines. Therefore, an ordinary tourist yacht will not be enough to blow up the pipes.
At the end of June, Bellingcat investigative journalist Arik Toller tweeted that Valeriy Kolesnyk, a soldier of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade "Kholodny Yar" (Холодний Яр), was the person who allegedly blew up the gas pipes. The German police searched the apartment of Valeriy's roommate in Frankfurt-on-Oder as an argument. Die Zeit and The Wall Street Journal have also written about the raids in May.
In August, a group of 19 German investigative journalists published a Die Spiegel study detailing the Andromeda yacht movements in September 2022.
Then, in November 2023, more texts began to be published accusing Chervinskyy of coordinating the blowing up of gas pipelines. It is worth mentioning that Sweden, Denmark, and Germany have started national investigations into sabotage and are reporting them to the UN. Russia has yet to conduct its separate investigation into what happened on September 26, 2022. Instead, the Kremlin constantly appeals to foreign countries, international organizations (UN), and Western media in this matter.
Thus, there are allegedly two versions: "American" and "Ukrainian". Both were changing, suggesting that there are no real arguments behind them. Instead, a targeted Russian information attack on Ukraine continues.
Mykhailo Honchar, President of the Center for Global Studies "Strategy XXI", compares these two versions: "Pulitzer laureate Hersh submitted the first version. It is delusional but professionally composed, unlike the "Ukrainian version", initially featuring Valeriy Kolesnyk. But after reviewing it more closely, it turned out to involve just one soldier. This version’s followers looked for a clue and did not find it. Suddenly, the Ukrainian James Bond — Roman Chervinskyy appeared.
The story is similar to Hollywood movies: Chervinskyy can fly a fighter jet and work at the bottom of the sea. However, there is no sea component in the biographies of both [Kolesnyk and Chervinskyy]. But in Seymour Hersh's version, there is. He stated that they had been trained at a special operations center in Florida. Norwegians, famous connoisseurs of the Baltic Sea».
According to Mykhailo Honchar, if one looks retrospectively at the series of publications, their release coincided with the diplomatic tension between Ukraine and the West. Russia is also spreading disinformation about the alleged conflict between the military and politicians in Ukraine.
"Another Ukrainian footprint surge occurred with particular tensions in Ukraine's relations with Western partners. Subversion is an excuse, but the primary purpose of Russian disinformation is to sow the West's distrust of the Ukrainian leadership.
The West is helping Ukraine, but the Ukrainians have "damaged" the leading partner in Europe, Germany. This pipeline meant getting cheap gas for Germany," — Mykhailo Honchar commented.
In March 2023, one of the pro-Russian Telegram channels spread the information published by the Politico publication stating that the undermining of the Nord Streams had determined the tension in relations between Ukraine and the United States: "Politico notes that based on conversations with ten officials, legislators, and experts, it has identified the tension points between Ukraine and the USA, including the undermining of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, Ukraine's exhausting defense of Bakhmut, as well as Ukraine's intention to liberate Crimea.
In June 2023, Russia, via agitational propaganda in Telegram channels, launched a manipulation campaign about the struggle for the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Russian propaganda claimed that Bankova supposedly has its "favorites", one of whom can replace Zaluzhnyy because of his alleged involvement in the explosion at gas pumps:
"Syrskyy and Tarnavskyy will not care about losses or potential rivals in the command; they are trying to show Zelenskyy their effectiveness in leading the Armed Forces. The campaign in the Western media accusing Zaluzhnyy of being involved in undermining Nord Streams plays into the hands of the President's Office’s new favorites. "
Moreover, here lies another purely technical point. Not all gas pipes were damaged. Mykhailo Honchar sees this as a ruse — Russia has left room for maneuvering if the EU freezes in winter.
"One thread of Nord Stream2 is not damaged. It also suggests that Russia has left one thread to save Europe, which will [supposedly] freeze. Yet, you call off sanctions.
Since there are no gas sanctions from the EU [only oil sanctions], Russia is currently increasing exports of liquefied gas", said Mykhailo Honchar.
At last, in December 2019, Naftogaz of Ukraine and Russia's Gazprom signed a new five-year contract on the transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukrainian territory. At the same time, the export of Russian gas to the EU through Ukraine decreased yearly.
Transit of Russian gas to Europe through Ukraine in 1992–2023. Infographic "Word and Deed" (Слово і діло). Source.
To summarize, Russia has been systematically forming a negative image of Ukraine regarding gas transit. Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines symbolize European energy expansion. Sabotage against them on September 26, 2022, resulted in the publication of a series of texts in the Western media, where the versions of who was to blame for it were constantly changing: Americans, Norwegians, or Ukrainians. One thing is clear — the situation with the coverage of sabotage at the gas pipelines showed the journalists’ vulnerability to the "insiders’ insights" and anonymous sources.
