Seven-man group behind Nord Stream attack – Italian media

Russia and numerous experts have said the idea that the bombing was carried out by a small unit is improbable

Italian media have released what they claim to be more details of the investigation into the Nord Stream pipeline bombing, alleging it was executed by a former Ukrainian serviceman and six accomplices.

Nord Stream, which carried Russian natural gas to Germany and Western Europe via the Baltic Sea, was sabotaged in September 2022 by underwater explosions near Denmark’s Bornholm Island. Moscow has dismissed as “ridiculous” the theory that a small group could have carried out the attack.

On Friday, Open.Online and Il Fatto Quotidiano reported that the suspected mastermind of the attack is 49-year-old Sergey Kuznetsov, a veteran of Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), citing German investigators.

The bombing plot, allegedly code-named Operation Diameter, is said to have involved Kuznetsov leading a seven-person unit that included two former colleagues and four civilian divers. For the attack, the group allegedly rented a small yacht, the Andromeda, in Rostock, Germany, using fake documents, then packed it with explosives and standard commercial diving equipment.

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On September 8, 2022, the group allegedly departed from Wiek, on the island of Rugen, and reached the area off Bornholm. There, during nighttime dives, they planted at least four charges, each weighing 14-27kg, composed of hexogen and octogen with timed fuses, directly on the gas connectors.

Kuznetsov was arrested near Rimini, Italy on an international warrant issued by German prosecutors on Thursday. He faces up to 15 years in prison on charges including anti-constitutional sabotage and awaits extradition to Germany. German Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig called the arrest “a very impressive investigative success,” saying one of the “suspected masterminds” had been caught.

There is no information on whether Kuznetsov is believed to have acted of his own accord or under orders from Kiev. A previous Wall Street Journal report claimed Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky approved the mission, then tried to abort it following a CIA warning. Kiev has denied involvement.

The Nord Stream pipelines, though severely damaged, are considered repairable. Their bombing was seen at the time as an attack on critical energy infrastructure and a stark example of the rising economic fallout of the Ukraine conflict.

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Speaking in February 2022, then-US President Joe Biden declared that in the event of an all-out military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, “there will no longer be a Nord Stream. We will bring an end to it.” A year later, veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report claiming that Biden had given the order to destroy the pipelines, citing an informed source. The person claimed US Navy divers had planted the explosives, which reportedly caused blasts of 2.3 and 2.1 on the Richter scale, under cover of NATO drills. The White House called the report “complete fiction.”

Swedish engineer Erik Andersson, who led the first and only independent forensic probe at the blast sites, previously told an Italian journalist that the entire divers-on-a-boat story was “a clear mission to whitewash the USA and other Western nations” for their possible part in the sabotage. “The more I look into this, the more I feel that the Nord Stream attack is just a part of a bigger scheme to cut off Russia from Europe,” he said.