Wall Street Journal: Zelenskyy approved Nord stream sabotage
Published August 15, 2024 at 3:27 p.m
Foreign. According to new information published by the Wall Street Journal, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has approved plans to sabotage the Nord Stream gas pipeline in 2022 – but then personally backed out when the CIA learned of the plan.

The information comes from several anonymous Ukrainian sources who are said to have insight into the events.

The sabotage is said to have been organized by a group consisting of Ukrainian businessmen and military personnel. The decision to carry out the operation was said to have been made during a meeting on a chartered yacht, where "alcohol and patriotic zeal" were said to have played a role.

- I always laugh when I read media speculation about some big operation involving intelligence services, submarines, drones and satellites, says an officer involved in the plan, and continues:

- The whole thing was born one night of heavy drinking.

The operation was financed by private businessmen and overseen by a top general in the Ukrainian military. President Zelenskyy is said to have initially approved the plans, but later tried to cancel the operation after the CIA learned about it.

However, Ukraine's then chief of defense, Valery Zaluzhny, is said to have gone ahead with the sabotage anyway.

The government of Ukraine has denied the information.

The Nord Stream sabotage has had very serious consequences for Europe's economy, not least for the industries in Germany, which have been hit particularly hard by the energy crisis.