Claims that Ukrainian authorities, backed by Poland, orchestrated the sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022 are baseless, according to an aide to the Polish president on Sunday.
August Hanning, the former head of German intelligence, told Die Welt that he suspected there were agreements between the presidents of Poland and Ukraine to execute the attack. "These allegations are entirely without foundation," said Mieszko Pawlak, the head of the international policy bureau at President Andrzej Duda's office, responding to the accusations on Polsat broadcaster, as reported by PAP newswire. Pawlak pointed out that Hanning was in office during Gerhard Schroeder's tenure as German chancellor when Nord Stream 1 was being established, and "as the intelligence chief, he undoubtedly played a disgraceful and significant part in the project."
German media recently reported that German prosecutors had pinpointed a Ukrainian diving instructor as a primary suspect in the Nord Stream sabotage and sought his arrest in Poland. Although Poland received the arrest warrant, the suspect had already departed the country because Germany did not include his name in the wanted persons database, Polish prosecutors informed Reuters.
"To all the instigators and supporters of Nord Stream 1 and 2, the only appropriate action now is to apologize and remain silent," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on the X platform on Saturday. Tusk did not directly address the accusations of Polish involvement. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Nord Stream sabotage was financed by private businessmen and overseen by a senior Ukrainian general. Ukraine has denied any involvement in the incident.
The pipeline beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany was the primary conduit for Russian gas before the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.
