A pro-Ukrainian group was behind the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines last year, according to new intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
There was no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or his top lieutenants were involved in the operation, or that the perpetrators were acting at the direction of any Ukrainian government officials, the newspaper reported, citing U.S. officials.
Reuters could not independently verify the report, and U.S. officials could not be immediately reached for comment. Representatives for Kyiv and Moscow also could not be immediately reached.
The United States and NATO have called the September 2022 attacks on the gas pipelines "an act of sabotage," while Moscow has blamed the West and has called on the United Nations Security Council to independently investigate. Neither side has provided evidence.
The intelligence review suggests the who carried out the attacks opposed Russian President Vladimir Putin "but does not specify the members of the group, or who directed or paid for the operation," The New York Times claimed. "U.S. officials declined to disclose the nature of the intelligence, how it was obtained or any details of the strength of the evidence it contains. They have said that there are no firm conclusions about it," the report added.
A senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Kyiv was "absolutely not involved" in last year's attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines and has no information about what happened.
"Without a doubt, Ukraine is absolutely not involved in the excesses on the pipelines," Mykhailo Podolyak said in a statement to Reuters. "It does not make the slightest bit of sense."
He added that Ukraine has no information about exactly who was involved but speculated that what he called Russian efforts to destabilize the region might have been to blame.
"Starting from the first day of construction on the pipelines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, Ukraine repeatedly drew the attention of its Western partners to the sharply growing strategic risks for the security of Europe carried by the realization of this project," Podolyak said.
Russia's deputy U.N. envoy said that the New York Times report on who could be responsible for the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year "only proves that our initiative on launching an international investigation under the auspices of the U.N. Secretary-General is very timely."
Russia plans to call a vote in the U.N. Security Council by the end of March on its draft resolution asking Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to establish such an inquiry, Deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told Reuters.
