An investigative report carried out jointly by The Washington Post and the German newspaper Der Spiegel suggests a Ukrainian special forces commander played a significant role in coordinating last year’s attacks on the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline.
Published over the weekend, the reports, which cited anonymous officials in Ukraine and Europe, say 48-year-old Roman Chervinsky—a veteran operative for the Ukrainian secret services—was one of the central figures behind the attack that rendered three of the four pipelines that compose Nord Stream I and II, key channels through which Russian gas traveled to Europe, inoperable.
Chervinsky is believed to have overseen the logistical aspects of the team that sabotaged the pipelines. The report, which notes Chervinsky’s name is mentioned in the context of Ukrainian and international security circles, says he neither orchestrated the operation nor acted independently, but received directives from higher-ranking officials, who ultimately reported to General Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s highest-ranking military officer.
The reports say Chervinsky oversaw a six-person team that rented the sailing yacht “Andromeda” under false identities and used diving gear to install explosive charges on the pipelines, which upon being detonated caused as much as half a million metric tons of methane—a greenhouse gas with 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide—to be released into the atmosphere.
As of now, this is the clearest evidence that indicates that the attack on the gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea was planned and carried out by Ukrainian perpetrators.
In Germany, investigators from the Federal Criminal Police office, the Federal Police, and the Federal Prosecutor General have gathered numerous leads that point to Ukraine’s culpability in the attacks. Those in security circles say it’s difficult to believe that at least the Ukrainian General Staff was unaware of the sabotage operation.
Denmark and Sweden have also launched their own investigations into the Nord Stream attacks.
Chervinsky, through his lawyer, has denied having played any role in the gas pipeline’s sabotage, saying that information that suggests otherwise is “Russian propaganda.”
“All speculations about my involvement in the attack on Nord Stream are being spread by Russian propaganda without any basis,” he said in a statement to The Washington Post and Der Spiegel.
Previously, Ukrainian President Zelensky has denied any Ukrainian involvement in the sabotage operation, telling the German newspaper BILD in June: “ I didn’t know anything, 100 percent. Nothing of the sort has been done by Ukraine. I would never act that way.”
“Show us proof. If our military is supposed to have done this, show us proof,” he added.
In its report, The Washington Post says the Nord Stream sabotage operation was carried out in such a way as to keep President Zelensky uninformed.
