WSJ: Nord Stream sabotage probe deepens divisions across Europe

For three years, a specialised team of German detectives has gathered each weekday at the Federal Police headquarters in Potsdam, near Berlin, piecing together the events behind the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosions—widely regarded as the greatest act of sabotage in recent history.

Their findings, which point to Ukrainian involvement, now threaten to fracture Europe’s support for Kyiv.

According to sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, German police and prosecutors have reconstructed a detailed account of how a Ukrainian military unit carried out the attacks under the direct supervision of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, then commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

By tracking ship rental companies, phone records, and licence plates, the Potsdam team laid the groundwork for German authorities to issue arrest warrants for three Ukrainian special forces servicemen and four veteran divers. The goal, sources say, was to reduce Russia’s oil revenues and weaken its economic ties with Germany.

The investigation has already sparked political tensions. Poland has refused to extradite one suspect to Germany, instead lauding him as a hero for targeting a crucial source of revenue for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a long-time critic of Germany’s reliance on Russian energy, dismissed the probe, stating that the issue was not that the pipeline was destroyed, but that it had ever been constructed.

“The case threatens to further strain relations between Ukraine and Germany, the largest financial backer of Kyiv and supplier of some of its most advanced military systems, particularly in air defence,” the WSJ notes.

By Aghakazim Guliyev