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Ukraine officials deny Kyiv's involvement in Nord Stream attack

View taken from a Danish F-16 interceptor of the Nord Stream 2 gas leak just south of Dueodde, Denmark, on Tuesday, September 27, 2022. Ukrainian officials on Wednesday sought to deny a report that forces loyal to the country were behind the attack. File photo by Danish Defense/UPI
1 of 2 | View taken from a Danish F-16 interceptor of the Nord Stream 2 gas leak just south of Dueodde, Denmark, on Tuesday, September 27, 2022. Ukrainian officials on Wednesday sought to deny a report that forces loyal to the country were behind the attack. File photo by Danish Defense/UPI | License Photo

March 8 (UPI) -- Ukrainian officials on Wednesday denied the country played any role in the sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline last year, after a report found evidence that suggested pro-Ukrainian forces may have been behind the attack.

Mykhalio Podolyak, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, dismissed the Tuesday report by The New York Times as a conspiracy theory.

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"Ukraine has nothing to do with the Baltic Sea mishap and has no information about 'pro-Ukraine sabotage groups," Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

The New York Times report stated that "new intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials" suggested it was forces loyal to Ukraine that targeted the twin pipeline network last year.

Although it said the officials had no evidence that Zelesnky or any top Ukrainian officials were involved in the attack, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleskii Reznikov also adamantly denied that any force loyal to Kyiv was behind the attack.

"For me, this is a rather strange story that has nothing to do with us. I think that an official investigation that is being conducted by the concerned authorities will reveal all the details," he said. "It would be a certain compliment to our special forces, but these are not our actions."

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It was Ukraine in September that accused Russia of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines to create a panic ahead of the winter heating season in Europe. Podolyak at the time said the damage to Nord Stream was "an act of aggression."

Sweden's National Seismology Center said there was an underwater blast in the area of the pipes at the time they lost pressure. The pipelines -- Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 -- had not been active but were still filled with natural gas when authorities noticed a sharp drop in pressure.

Finger-pointing carried on for months after the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry blamed the British military for blowing up the pipeline, without providing evidence. Authorities in Britain denied the allegation. Western allies have pointed at Russia, which had stopped delivering natural gas to Europe because of sanctions.

Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh, meanwhile, suggested on his blog last month that the United States was behind the attack.

Regardless of the blame, a Swedish prosecutor investigating the damage said that traces of explosives were found at the point of the pipeline ruptures, proving sabotage.

Ukraine's state news agency added that Swedish, Danish and German officials relayed to the U.N. Security Council that investigations into the incident are ongoing.

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"There are ongoing national investigations, and I think it is right to wait until those are finalized before we say anything more about who was behind," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg added Wednesday.

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