Citing US intelligence sources, the New York Times wrote that a pro-Ukraine group could be behind the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The news portal of the German public service ARD TV channel also claimed the same. The two news reports were published on the same day.
Indeed, the Ukrainian thread in this bombing could never be ruled out
– said András Deák, a staff member of the Strategic Defense Research Institute of the National Public Service University, in the Porfolio Checklist broadcast on Wednesday.
The detonation did not take place at a depth of 70-90 meters, the pyrotechnician of the Danish fleet also said that practically anyone could have carried it out in a few hours, the expert added.
The current leak about the investigation could be a serious message from the USA and Germany to the Zelenskyi government, because Ukraine may have committed acts during the war that the Western powers that supported the country did not like, said András Deák.
According to the expert, the trickle of information about the investigation shows that the support of the Ukrainians is limited.
The full interview can be heard on the Wednesday broadcast of Portfolio Checklist from 22:39 a on Spotifythat is On Apple Podcaststhe On Google Podcastson the other major podcast platforms, and here, in the player embedded in the article:
According to András Deák, it is strange that everyone suspected the great powers in connection with the bombing, since the range of potential perpetrators is extremely wide.
What if the Zelensky government knew about it?
Both the Americans and the Germans left a loophole open in the Zelensky administration, since they did not talk about their involvement. But they also found no trace that the Russians had carried out the attack as a so-called “foreign flag” operation, so that they could blame it on the Ukrainians, András Deák pointed out.
According to the expert, the Zelenskyi government seems to be receiving a kind of brainwashing from the Americans and Germans, but at the same time they left the Ukrainians with an escape route, because it was not claimed that the Ukrainian leadership knew about the action. Here, Ukraine could have still said that it was not them, but if the operation was organized in Ukraine, then it will be investigated, on the other hand, the Ukrainian government chose complete denial, the expert reminded.
If the Ukrainian government knew about this, the situation could be extremely bad, since they are currently receiving material and technical assistance from NATO for the war, and they themselves transit Russian natural gas.
Even if they were, it is not necessarily in the interests of the Westerners that this be revealed one by one
András Deák said. He added: that is precisely why what we are seeing now is a very weak guess.
According to the academician, the case can still be dismissed. On the one hand, the information comes from an unofficial source, and on the other hand, the Zelensky government was not even named in the leaks.
If big politics decides not to discuss this issue, then the investigation will come to a dead end, of course it can be dangerous that the public’s attention has now been diverted to the issue – he opined
Why do the Russians downplay this?
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, called the now leaked news about the explosion a distraction. He told the Russian news agency RIA: with this controlled leak, it is obvious that the perpetrators of the attack want to divert attention.
According to András Deák, behind the development of the Russian position is the Russian narrative that they are at war with NATO and the West, and not only with Ukraine. Thus, for them, an interpretation according to which she is beautiful and big would be better
their gas pipeline was not blown up by some Ukrainian group, but, as Putin put it, by the Anglo-Saxons.
The full interview with András Deák can be heard on the Wednesday broadcast of Portfolio Checklist from 22:39 on on Spotifythat is On Apple Podcaststhe On Google Podcastson the other major podcast platforms, and here, in the player embedded in the article:
Cover image: Getty Images
