Kremlin Expresses Concern over Report on Zelenskiy’s Alleged Lack of Awareness Regarding Nord Stream Attack

The Kremlin expressed deep concern over a recent report by The Washington Post, which claimed that a Ukrainian military officer had coordinated the attack on Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines. The report also stated that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was unaware of the operation. The explosions, which took place in September 2022 near the Danish island of Bornholm, damaged three out of four lines of the pipeline system that transports Russian gas to Europe. According to unidentified sources cited by The Washington Post, Roman Chervinsky, a senior Ukrainian military officer with close ties to the country’s intelligence services, was the coordinator of the attack. The article further alleged that Chervinsky received orders from senior Ukrainian officials reporting to Commander-in-Chief General Valery Zaluzhnyi. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s military denied having any information regarding the report. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov expressed concern over the findings, stating that the indication that President Zelenskiy may not have been aware of the actions of his subordinates from the security agencies was alarming not only for Russia, but also for Western countries. Peskov called for consideration of the situation if the Kyiv regime was no longer in control within its own country. The attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, which caused a sharp pressure drop and registered explosions, led to speculation regarding the responsible party. Initially, some U.S. and European officials baselessly suggested that Russia had sabotaged its own pipelines, a claim dismissed by President Vladimir Putin as idiotic. Russia has repeatedly accused the West, particularly the United States and Britain, without providing evidence, of being behind the Nord Stream blasts, while both countries deny involvement. The New York Times and The Washington Post previously reported that Ukraine was behind the attack, a claim that Ukraine has consistently denied. Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed in a blog post titled “How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline” that U.S. navy divers were responsible for destroying the pipelines. However, this report was dismissed by the White House as false and fictitious.