Prominent Ukrainian Businessman Probed Over Alleged Links to Nord Stream Attacks, Reports Say

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Western intelligence agencies investigating blasts on the Nord Stream gas pipelines are looking into the possible involvement of a prominent Ukrainian businessman in the attack, a UK newspaper reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The British newspaper said that it knows the name of the businessman and that some of the attack's characteristics were hinting at his involvement in the sabotage.

A source in one of the European intelligence services did not clarify whether the businessman is an official suspect, according to The Telegraph.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Italian press on Thursday that his country had nothing to do with the attack on the pipelines as "there is no proof" in these allegations, calling the rumors "harmful" and "unfair."

The US media reported on Tuesday, citing US officials, that new intelligence suggested involvement of a "pro-Ukrainian group" in the Nord Stream incidents. At the same time, the US officials reportedly said there were no proof of the Ukrainian leadership being involved in the operation.

Meanwhile, a German newspaper reported, citing investigators, that the attacks had been carried out by six people of unknown nationality with the use of a boat rented from a Poland-based firm, apparently owned by two Ukrainians.

The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, have been out of action since they were hit by explosions last September. Nord Stream's operator, Nord Stream AG, said that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the time repairs might take.

Russia considers the explosions of the two pipelines an act of international terrorism. There are no official results of the investigation yet, but Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report in February 2023 saying that US navy divers during NATO Baltops exercises in the summer of 2022 had planted explosives to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, which Norway activated three months later.