Read the latest update on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosions and the accusations being thrown around. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denies any involvement and points the finger at Russia. Get all the details here.
By Pavel Polityuk
KYIV (Multibagger) - Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied his country's involvement in explosions which damaged the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and instead pointed the finger at Russia in comments to Multibagger on Thursday.
"Such an act can only be carried out with extensive technical and financial resources ... and who possessed all this at the time of the bombing? Only Russia," Podolyak said as part of his written comments.
The multi-billion dollar Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines transporting gas under the Baltic Sea were ruptured by a series of explosions in September 2022, seven months after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Polish prosecutors said on Wednesday that Poland had received a European arrest warrant issued by Berlin in connection with the attack, but the suspect, a Ukrainian man named as Volodymyr Z, has already left Poland.
On Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported that top Ukrainian officials were involved in what happened.
"Ukraine has nothing to do with the Nord Stream explosions," Podolyak said, adding that Ukraine did not gain any strategic or tactical advantage from the blasts.
Russia has already blamed the United States, Britain and Ukraine for the blasts, which largely cut Russian gas off from the lucrative European market. Those countries have denied involvement.
Germany, Denmark, and Sweden all opened investigations into the incident, and the Swedes found traces of explosives on several objects recovered from the explosion site, confirming the blasts were deliberate acts.
In summary, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosions have caused a political storm with accusations flying between Ukraine, Russia, and other countries. Ukrainian officials deny involvement and blame Russia, while Russia points fingers at the United States, Britain, and Ukraine. The investigations are ongoing, but the impact of these explosions has disrupted the flow of Russian gas to Europe, affecting the global energy market and potentially leading to economic consequences for all parties involved.