Germany has accused Poland of sabotaging an investigation into the main suspect behind the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines. Polish officials deny failing to execute the European arrest and search warrants issued against the alleged organiser of the plot, a Ukrainian diving instructor named Volodymyr Z.
These serious allegations appeared in the newspaper Welt Am Sonntag on August 9th. Welt reports that an official with knowledge of the matter claimed that Poland was sabotaging the investigation. Another person familiar with the inquiry said it was “obstruction of justice.”
According to the former head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), August Hanning:
The Polish government obviously let [Volodymyr Z.] go in order to cover up its own involvement in the attack on the pipelines.
Not for the first time, EU member states are looking the other way or going against their own interests in support of Ukraine’s war effort.
Two years ago, three of the four branches of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, supplying gas from Russia to Germany, were partially destroyed in an explosion.
Hanning is convinced that the presidents of Poland and Ukraine, Andrzej Duda and Volodymyr Zelensky, knew of the planned sabotage:
Operations of such dimensions are inconceivable without the approval of the political leaders of the countries involved.
This follows earlier claims of a more substantial role for Zelensky—who is not to be confused with the supervisor of the suspect six-man diving crew, Volodymyr Z.—in authorising the attack. In the immediate term, German officials want to speak to the latter, last reported as living near Warsaw until he fled the country.
In addition to Polish non-cooperation, there is strong suspicion that the German political class would prefer to keep quiet about Ukraine launching what could be seen as an act of war against its primary ally in Europe. Investigations by Germany’s federal criminal police and Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office appear to be facing extraordinary obstacles. For instance, the Polish authorities stand accused of deliberately withholding CCTV footage from the marina in Kołobrzeg where, it is claimed, the sabotage team brought supplies aboard its yacht “Andromeda.”
Head of Poland’s National Security Bureau Jacek Siewiera denied the accusation, calling it “completely unfounded.” Publicly, Poland’s own investigation promises to follow multiple leads, including the possibility of a Russian ‘false flag’ operation.
