Nord Stream attack: does the trail lead to Ukraine?
The investigation into who carried out the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines continues. Journalistic research has now revealed that the findings of intelligence services point to Ukraine. According to these investigations, a pro-Ukrainian group may have carried out the attack. For Europe's press, the mystery is far from being solved.
The truth remains shrouded in mystery
The revelations leave much room for speculation, Der Standard finds:
“Immediately after the attacks many experts - but also some governments - in the West suspected Russia in particular of masterminding the sabotage. However, the theory that Moscow had blown up its own pipelines was shaky from the start. The possible motive - that the Kremlin wanted to fuel the Germans' fear of a cold winter - seemed contrived. Where the new clues will actually lead remains to be seen. The term 'pro-Ukrainian' can apply just as well to Western intelligence services as to Russian opponents of Vladimir Putin's war course. But a false flag operation by the Kremlin to discredit Ukraine also can't be ruled out.”
Ukraine in the right anyway
Even if the perpetrators were from Ukraine it wouldn't change the overall situation in this conflict, the Aargauer Zeitung explains:
“Ukrainians were rightly suspicious of the pipelines, which made it possible to bypass their country to export gas. The government in Kyiv would not necessarily have known about the attack: nationalist hotheads could have acted on their own. ... If Ukrainians destroyed the pipelines this must be condemned. But it would not change the moral nature of the conflict any more than the bombing of Dresden changed that of the Second World War. Ukraine is in the right and deserves the support of the West.”
Clearing up the mystery will take a while
The evidence is still completely unclear, Lidové noviny notes:
“In addition to the new information in the case, there is still the New York Times' finding that before the explosion there were almost 50 different ships in the area that had deactivated their identification in a bid to hide their location. So it seems that it really could have been anyone who caused something strange to happen in the waters of the Baltic. Let's see if someone is actually caught with the 'smoking gun' in the end. It doesn't look like that will happen right now. By the looks of it we won't learn the truth for a few years yet.”
Details deliberately suppressed
Večernji list comments:
“News that US officials conclude from intelligence gathered so far that a 'pro-Ukrainian group' was responsible for the destruction of Nord Stream 2 in September last year could cause unrest among allies and partners. ... The Times writes in its analysis that Western governments and intelligence agencies deliberately refrained from releasing details suggesting this [Ukrainian] involvement in order to protect Ukraine, or to prevent a potential weakening of the coalition.”