U.S. Knew Ukraine Planned to Attack Russia’s Nord Stream Pipelines

By Ryan Bort

Since Russia's Nord Stream pipelines exploded last year amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the question of who was behind the attack has largely been a mystery. But new information from the Discord leaks has provided what could be an important clue.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the United States had intelligence ahead of the attack that the Ukrainian military, working under the direction of the nation's highest military officer, planned a covert, underwater attack on the pipelines. The CIA reportedly obtained the intelligence from an unnamed European ally. The Post obtained it from an online friend of Jack Teixiera, the Air National Guardsman who was arrested in April for allegedly leaking classified government documents on the chat platform Discord.

The Nord Stream pipelines are important economic and political chips for Russia, linking the nation's natural gas supplies to energy markets in Western Europe via the Baltic Sea. Those natural gas sales are important to funding Russia's war machine.

Ukraine has said it wasn't behind attack, but the Post notes that there's been increasing reason to doubt the nation's denials, and that details of the intelligence it obtained align with evidence uncovered by German investigators about the attack.

The Post's report isn't the first public indication that Ukraine may have had something to do with the attack. The New York Times reported in March that intelligence reviewed by U.S. officials suggested that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind it — but the officials said they didn't have any evidence that Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky or any of the nation's top officials were involved.

President Biden and others suggested after the attack that it may have been Russia sabotaging both itself and the rest of Europe — which has a significant financial state in the pipelines — but there's no actually evidence they were behind the bombing.

It certainly would have been convenient if Moscow were behind the attack, as the U.S. and Western Europe have unequivocally condemned the bombing while also backing Ukraine as it tries to ward off Russia aggressors. The West's support for Ukraine would be complicated if it were to emerge that its government orchestrated the Nord Stream attack.