New leads in the investigation of sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which connect Russia and Germany, lead to Ukraine, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported in its Friday edition, AFP reports.

Police investigations are focused on the Andromeda sailboat, which was used to transport explosives used for sabotage in the Baltic Sea in September 2022, News.ro reports.

The metadata of an e-mail sent during the yacht rental would lead to Ukraine, reports Der Spiegel.

The German weekly reports that traces of the explosive, octogen, “very common both in (Western) Europe and in the former Eastern Bloc,” were found on the sailboat.

On September 26, 2022, four huge bubbles of natural gas, preceded by underwater explosions, were discovered in these pipelines, which provide connections between Russia and Germany, the main route for the delivery of Russian natural gas to the European Union (EU).

An attack was quickly suspected, which immediately sparked speculation in all directions about the perpetrators of this logistically complex and extremely diplomatically sensitive operation.

Almost eight months after these explosions, which affected the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, the perpetrators remain a mystery, despite ongoing criminal investigations in the countries of the region – Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

The sailboat was due to leave Rostock, a port in Germany, on September 6 with a crew of six on board, including divers and a doctor. (News.ro)

The suspect is Ukrainian and has a Romanian name

The explosion at the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline still remains a mystery to the public. Several theories have been put forward, one of which recently spread in the German media. According to her, the investigation is working in a new direction, in which a citizen of Romania and a Ukrainian appear.

According to the information of the German TV channels NDR, WDR, the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung in cooperation with international media partners and quoted by Tagesschau.de, it seems that there are several new tracks in the direction of Ukraine. It is about suspicious mailbox companies and a person possibly connected to the Ukrainian military.

The Polish online magazine “frontstory”, the Swedish newspaper “Expressen” and the Danish daily newspaper “Berlingske” are involved in the study. “We were primarily concerned about the German investigations,” NDR’s Manuel Bevarder said of the new lines of inquiry following the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

What role did Andromeda play?

Shortly after the bombings, the German federal prosecutor took over the investigation. In March, ARD and “Die Zeit” first reported on the sailing yacht “Andromeda” and its suspicious connection to Ukraine: five men and a woman left Rostock in early September 2022. The ship was chartered by a company in Poland. This company, in turn, belonged to Ukrainians, it was said then.

As research by WDR, NDR, SZ and international partners now shows, the Polish company that chartered the Andromeda in September 2022 is apparently a travel agency. According to the Polish commercial register, the company is located in a building in the Powisle district of Warsaw. More than 100 companies are registered at this address.

At the scene, the woman would confirm that the business was there, but she only communicates with the alleged business owners via email and does not have a phone number for them. Available information leaves the impression that the alleged travel agency may be a PO box business.

Officials in Poland declined to comment on the travel agency to international media involved in the investigative reporting.

As of September 2021, a middle-aged blonde woman was registered as the president and shareholder of the alleged travel company. Now she will live in Kyiv. It is possible that the travel agency was only used to rent and pay for the sailing yacht “Andromeda” – to hide who the real supporters are, according to an investigation cited by Tagesschau.de.

Who is Stefan?

Another clue from the “Andromeda”, which German security authorities consider “explosive”, seems to lead to Ukrainian military circles: when renting the yacht, one of the passengers allegedly carried a Romanian passport with the name Stefan M. “

A person with such a name and the corresponding date of birth would indeed exist, but, according to the conclusions of the German forensics BKA, he would have been in Romania at the time of the explosion. German investigators believe that this could be a citizen of Ukraine: a 20-year-old man from a city southeast of Kyiv. His name is known to the investigative team based on media quotes.

It is noted that the young Ukrainian previously served in the infantry unit. According to reports, one of the boy’s relatives, who was contacted by phone, said that he is currently serving in the army, but did not leave Ukraine last fall. The Ukrainian authorities have not yet answered the questions of the international investigative team.

Other studies and theories

There are other versions of the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline that are being discussed publicly. One of them is a recording by American journalist Seymour Hersh, which points to the alleged involvement of the US and Norway, and which can be read here.

In recent weeks, investigations by several European media have shown that shortly before the explosion, suspicious Russian vessels were near the gas pipelines. Among other things, they are said to have been military and civilian research vessels, some of which were equipped with small submarines or underwater drones.

These findings were provided to German and Scandinavian investigators, and satellite images and other surveillance methods were examined. However, so far, according to German security services, there is no evidence that Russian ships are really involved in the attacks.

At the beginning of the year, according to Tagesschau.de, federal prosecutor Peter Frank emphasized in one of his rare interviews that it was impossible to prove that Russia was behind the attacks on gas pipelines, but Frank emphasized that “investigations are ongoing.” Russia, the United States and Ukraine deny their involvement in the explosions.