Russia is trying to update Nord Stream explosions to prevent the issue from freezing, filling media outlets with new statements by officials.
Nord Stream blasts
In early February, Kelley Beaucar Vlahos of Responsible Statecraft wrote that officials had begun to say that they no longer had jurisdiction over the investigation into the so-called 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.
Swedish public prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist stated that “the investigation has been systematic and thorough.” However, he also noted that “against the background of the situation we now have, we can state that Swedish jurisdiction does not apply.” He further stated that he could not comment on further co-operation “due to the secrecy that prevails in international legal co-operation,” as “the German investigation continues.”
I will also not be able to comment anything further on the conclusions of the Swedish investigation or comment on any suspected persons in the Swedish investigation.
Denmark and Germany were also conducting official investigations into the sabotage. Reports on damage and leaks in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines running from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea surfaced on September 26, 2022. Investigators have since concluded that it was an act of sabotage.
Since the anniversary of the blasts, the accusations fell on Ukraine, Vlahos noted. However, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh argued that it was a unit of secret US Navy divers that blew up the pipelines. The conducted the operation with the approval of the Biden administration. Further reports in 2023 stated the small boat Andromeda served as a vessel to carry “rogue pro-Ukrainian saboteurs.”
Then a comprehensive investigation by 19 Der Spiegel authors showed that all roads indeed lead to the Ukrainian government. The authors stated that German investigators had little doubt that Ukraine was responsible for the pipeline explosion.
When the pipelines exploded in 2022, most blamed Russia. However, Vlahos pointed out that gas exports to Europe after the sabotage were led by the United States, the UAE, and the Netherlands.
The United States without a question (has benefited). It (…) made Germany and other European countries even more permanently dependent on imports of liquified natural gas from the United States.
Bringing the issue up to date
Today, on May 14, a provocative statement has been voiced once again. Former People’s Deputy of Ukraine Andrii Derkach stated in an interview with a Russian publication that he intended to initiate an international tribunal on the alleged crimes of NATO countries.
We already have an over-ripe issue of creating an international tribunal. (…) First it could be the creation of an international register of terrorists and sponsors of terrorism, an international register of damage caused by the activities of NATO countries.
According to Derkach, the basis for “a fair international legal proceeding is being formed.” Such a tribunal should to be “embedded” in national and international law, he added.
Derkach claimed that Russia would investigate what it called a terrorist attack on the Nord Streams. He noted that the perpetrators of the sabotage “were trained for a long period of time, including on the territory of the Zhytomyr region [Ukraine].”
Training first took place there, then in Romania, near the NATO base Mangalia. They trained on the South Streams, rented a large yacht, and then they were moved to Poland. A smaller yacht, the Andromeda, was prepared. The one the Western media wrote about.
Investigation efforts
Earlier, the Russian Investigative Committee claimed that money that had been passing through the Ukrainian oil and gas company Burisma Holdings over the past few years had been used to finance terrorist acts in Russia and abroad.
The media also claimed that a Ukrainian group of saboteurs led by Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukraine Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), carried out the Nord Stream explosions “under a foreign flag.” However, intelligence officer Roman Chervinsky became the direct leader of the operation. Later, media wrote that he disappeared after the trial.
Derkach stated that Russia was able to trace “virtually all movements of funds through Burisma, as well as transfers through Morgan Stanley to Rosemont Seneca company.”
This company is owned by Biden’s son.
The former MP remarked that the US Congress had already received all the data needed to “prove influence trading.” Ukrainian Burisma Holdings belonged to former Ukrainian Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mykola Zlochevsky. It also had ties to US President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, as the latter joined its board of directors in 2014.
Derkach pointed out that the military unit of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry’s HUR received “6 million in cash transferred to close the Burisma case” through a secret court ruling. They were subsequently used to carry out terrorist activities, he stated.
After that, the Nord Streams began to explode. Partners of the Biden family sponsored terrorism, avoiding responsibility for corruption and money laundering in Ukraine.
US involvement
According to Derkach, Washington continues to interfere in Ukraine’s internal affairs. Currently, the US allegedly used Ukraine as a tool to carry out terrorist actions, the politician said. Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office, received the instructions from the White House. He was the one “who is currently in charge of Ukraine, while Volodymyr Zelensky is just an ‘avatar’ who does not make any decisions,” Derkach declared.
Russian officials are still trying to actively highlight the Nord Stream explosions. In late April, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stated that the international community still did not have the details of the Nord Stream investigation.
This event undoubtedly constituted a direct threat to international peace and security. The use of explosive devices against a seabed gas infrastructure worth some $17 billion caused critical damage to the pipeline, had serious environmental effects and posed a clear danger to navigation in that part of the Baltic Sea.
Nebenzya also noted that the US and its allies did not delay the investigation when it was to their advantage. Meanwhile, the US refused to comment on both the situation with the pipeline explosion and Hunter Biden’s involvement in the questionable Ukrainian company.
