Could Ukrainian intelligence, at least some agents, be behind the November 2022 sabotage of the Russian Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines? A special forces commander would have played a key role in the operation aimed at degrading this infrastructure linking Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea and which supplied significant quantities of gas to Europe, according to a joint investigation by the American daily Washington Post and the German magazine Spiegel, broadcast Saturday November 11. Roman Tchervinsky, 48, was in fact the “coordinator” of this sabotage, according to European and Ukrainian military sources reported by both media.
According to Washington Post, Roman Tchervinsky, without being the brains of the operation, “would have provided logistical support to a team of six individuals, who had rented a sailboat under a false identity and used diving equipment on the high seas, in order to place detonators on gas pipelines. 51% owned by the Russian state company Gazprom, these infrastructures were also financed by European companies, notably German, French and Dutch, which invested millions of euros in them.
Having served with the secret services, Roman Tchervinsky, who denies his involvement, nevertheless assures the American and German media that he collaborated in several missions for Ukrainian Intelligence. Among them: operations aimed at kidnapping Wagner mercenaries to Ukraine in order to try them, eliminating pro-Russian separatist leaders or even aiming to corroborate Russia’s involvement in the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in Donbass, in 2014.
Zelensky “not aware”
Responsibility for the explosions had been the subject of various theories, and was attributed, according to sources, to Ukraine, Russia or the United States, although all denied it. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in particular, has repeatedly assured that his country cannot be involved. “I would never do that,” he declared last June to the German daily Bildadding that he “would like to see proof.”
According to Washington Post, the sabotage operation was allegedly designed by keeping Volodymyr Zelensky in the dark. The American newspaper and the Der Spiegel say they requested the reaction of the Ukrainian government, which did not respond. Roman Chervinsky is currently on trial in kyiv for another case: he is accused of having abused his power by pushing a Russian pilot to defect. He claims, according to local media, that these prosecutions constitute political retaliation for having criticized President Zelensky.