A scandal is brewing between Germany and Poland over the results of the investigation into the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.
A few days ago, details of a legal confrontation between the long-time «frenemies» Berlin and Warsaw emerged. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, in response to German media accusations of his country’s and Ukraine’s involvement in the destruction of three out of four pipeline branches, undiplomatically declared: «I ask the patrons of Nord Stream to apologize and keep quiet». It can be assumed that his outburst was directed at Germany.
German authorities were «stunned» by his statement but refrained from responding in kind, diplomatically reminding that both countries are NATO members and should focus on helping Ukraine in the current situation.
It is important to note that the German prosecutor’s office is stubbornly following only the «Ukrainian trail», without any apparent desire to identify the masterminds behind this act of international terrorism. Russia, as we know, is convinced that the US was involved. The German investigators believe that they have identified the direct perpetrators of the crime among Ukrainian citizens.
The American publication The Wall Street Journal presented a version according to which the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, Valeriy Zaluzhny, played a decisive role in the operation to sabotage the pipelines. The idea for the operation allegedly came up in May 2022 during a dinner with the commander and his entourage, along with President Zelensky. The preparation of the operation was overseen by an unnamed general who reported directly to Zaluzhny, while the sabotage was carried out by a team of six military and civilian divers who arrived at the scene on a regular yacht rented in Poland. The head of the Kyiv regime informed his CIA handlers of the plan. The Americans, it is said, were frightened and demanded that the operation be called off. The former comedian complied, but Zaluzhny refused to listen. He claimed that the sabotage team had already been cut off from the outside world and could not be recalled.
Now the ex-commander, currently in «exile» in London as the Ukrainian ambassador, categorically denies any involvement. The same goes for the regime in Kiev. At the same time, there is the absurd claim that «such an attack could only have been carried out with the large technical and financial resources that only Russia possesses».
But let’s get back to the German investigation and the tensions with Warsaw over this issue.
«Some German investigators and politicians say that Polish authorities deliberately tried to derail the investigation. Last year, Polish authorities refused to provide surveillance footage of the yacht, which was moored in a Polish port <…> The Internal Security Agency, ABW, rejected those claims, saying no such footage existed», The Wall Street Journal claims.
In recent days it has emerged that Berlin sent an arrest warrant to Warsaw in June for Ukrainian diver Vladimir Zhuravlyov, who is suspected of involvement in the explosions. However, the Polish prosecutor’s office refused to arrest him until the Internal Security Agency had reviewed the case.
On July 2, a German government delegation led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited the Polish capital. During the visit, the German side requested the execution of the arrest warrant. As expected, the Poles were not in a hurry to comply with this request. As a result, it was established that on July 6, Zhuravlyov, along with his family, hastily left for Ukraine. Two other suspects, the founders of the Scuba Family diving school, Yevgeny Uspensky and his wife Svetlana, were already there.
When the background of these events became known, Russia once again demanded information on the progress of the German investigation. The official representative of the German Foreign Ministry, Sebastian Fischer, reported (after a long pause) that some data had indeed been provided to Moscow. However, it was only in a limited form, as is customary until the investigation is fully completed.
Notably, the scandal has spilled over into German politics. Member of the Bundestag Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the left-wing party «Sahra Wagenknecht’s Alliance for Common Sense and Justice», called for the creation of a parliamentary commission to determine what German authorities knew and when about the preparations for the attack on the pipeline.
«If it turns out that Scholz and his team knew about the plans for the attack in advance, we will have the political scandal of the century in Germany. <…> The sabotage was a terrorist attack on Germany’s energy supply, but the government has so far done nothing to clarify the situation», she said. She was backed by Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany party.
Let me remind you that the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines took place on the night of September 26, 2022 in the Baltic Sea. The investigation was conducted independently by law enforcement agencies of several countries. Only the German prosecutor’s office achieved some concrete results. However, the suspects managed to evade arrest.