Media reports about the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipeline are a coordinated effort to divert attention, and the Kremlin is surprised how US officials can speculate about last year’s explosions without an investigation, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

The Kremlin’s reaction came after The New York Times revealed that new information verified by US officials suggested that a pro-Ukraine group was responsible for the explosions that shut down the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea last year.

“It is obvious that the perpetrators of the attack want to divert attention. Obviously, we are talking about coordinated reconciliation in the mass media,” Kremlin press secretary Dmytro Peskov told the state agency RIA.

“How can US officials assume anything without investigation?”.

Peskov also noted that Nord Stream shareholder countries should insist on an urgent and transparent investigation.

“We are still not allowed to the investigation. Only a few days ago, we received information about this from the Danes and Swedes,” said Peskov.

“It’s not just strange. It smells like a terrible murder,” concluded Vladimir Putin’s spokesman.

The pro-Ukrainian group is suspected of sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea

A review of the new information suggests that opponents of President Vladimir Putin were responsible for the act of sabotage, but US officials declined to tell the NYT who directed or paid for the operation.

However, officials in Washington say they see no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, other senior officials in Kyiv or members of the Ukrainian government ordered the attack, which took place last September.

American officials quoted by the NYT also say that, despite the speculation that has arisen on this matter, the evidence collected so far does not indicate the involvement of the Russian state in organizing the sabotage.

Immediately after the attack, Ukraine directly accused Moscow of being behind the attack to further destabilize Europe’s energy market before winter.

Kyiv denies its involvement

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the presidential administration in Kyiv, said on Tuesday that Ukraine “has absolutely nothing to do” with last year’s attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipeline and has no information about what happened, reports Agerpres.

Deputy Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Dmytro Polyansky said on Tuesday that the information that appeared in the New York Times about who may be responsible for the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipeline “only proves that our initiative to launch an international investigation under the auspices of of the UN Secretary General is very timely,” writes Reuters.

Thus, by the end of March, Russia intends to initiate a vote in the UN Security Council on its draft resolution with a demand to Secretary General Antonio Guterres to start such an investigation, Dmytro Polyanskyi said.

The US and NATO called the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipeline last September an “act of sabotage”, while Moscow blamed the West and asked the UN Security Council to conduct an independent investigation. Neither side presented evidence.

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