Dutch spies warned CIA of Ukraine's plans to blow up Nord Stream pipelines: Report

Three months before the explosion of Nord Stream, the Dutch military intelligence had informed the US spy unit, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), of the Ukrainian plan to blow up the gas pipeline connecting Russia to Germany, a joint report by Dutch and German media claimed.

The report further mentioned that the CIA had later asked Ukraine to ditch the plan.

“The CIA warned Ukraine after receiving an alarming report from the Dutch Military Intelligence Services (MIVD) which heard about the plans via a Ukrainian source,” the Dutch NOS public broadcaster reported, in collaboration with German broadcaster ARD and national weekly Die Zeit.

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Top Ukrainian general Valerii Zaluzhnyi was allegedly in charge of the operation, the media reported citing Dutch intelligence inputs to the US and added that a small team of divers used a sailing boat to carry out their plan.

However, Zelensky was not aware of the whole operation, NOS said.

It said that along with German media, it had spoken to several international intelligence sources who were aware of the involvement of the MIVD.

Notably, the Washington Post had published a similar report about the CIA being informed of the Ukrainian plans but did not mention which country was responsible for the explosion.

The US-based newspaper reported that documents leaked by a US Air National Guard computer technician indicated that an unnamed European spy service had told the US Central Intelligence Agency about the plan in June 2022.

Officials mum

Meanwhile, Dutch Defence Minister Kajsa Ollongren declined to comment when asked about the reports.

“I cannot comment on the work of our intelligence services,” she told reporters at a press conference in Amsterdam, adding that the incident was under investigation by Germany, Sweden and Denmark, reports AFP news agency.

On September 26, two gas pipelines—The Nord Stream 1 and 2 —which were built to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, were blown up in underwater explosions.

The Netherlands was one of the key stakeholders in Nord Stream along with Russia, France and Germany.

Who is responsible?

Initially, Russia was suspected of carrying out the attacks, but later doubts were also raised on the United States and Ukraine—but all denied responsibility.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky again denied Kyiv’s involvement.

Meanwhile, German investigators are probing evidence that Poland was used as a staging base for the operation, The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.

(With inputs from agencies)

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