By Stephen Bryen*
This article was published by Weapons and Strategy and is republished with their permission.
WASHINGTON, DC | August 17, 2024 (IDN) — Both Germany and the US have published numerous reports on the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, claiming that the pipeline was destroyed by the Ukrainians. The latest story, which appeared in the Wall Street Journal, would have us believe that the plan to blow up the pipeline was originally approved by (President) Vladimir Zelensky and carried out by the former commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zalushny.
According to the story, Zelensky tried to call off the attack after a ragtag group of army officers and civilians, mostly soaked in alcohol, took over the planning, having been warned against it by the US. But Zalushny went ahead and said he had no way of calling off the operation.
The story also refers to the attempt by German prosecutors to indict a crew member, a Ukrainian diving instructor (without revealing his last name). This crew member allegedly lived with his family in Poland but has disappeared. The Germans accuse the Poles of obstructing the proceedings.
Almost the entire Wall Street Journal story is hard to believe. For example, it claims that German investigators checked the German-registered yacht called the Andromeda and discovered DNA, fingerprints and traces of explosives. It does not explain who is connected to the DNA and fingerprints, nor does it explain what kind of traces of explosives were allegedly found. The Journal simply says that they were discovered during a two-year police investigation. Over such a long period of time, the Andromeda was undoubtedly rented out to many others. Are there any differences between Ukrainian fingerprints and others?
One of the most curious claims is that the Andromeda apparently entered the small port town of Sandhamn, about 50 km east of Stockholm, in Sweden, after encountering bad weather. The Journal reports that (unnamed) eyewitnesses said the Andromeda was flying a “small Ukrainian flag.”
Ships entering ports are required to display the flag of their country of origin. The Andromeda, called the Ensign, would have had to display the German flag if the ship belonged to German interests and was not registered elsewhere (which is sometimes the case). However, according to the Wall Street Journal report, it would not display the Ukrainian flag because the Andromeda was leased by Ukrainians.
But this tantalizing fact about the flag says even more. No secret operation to destroy a multi-billion dollar pipeline would display the ship’s national flag. Either there was no operation by Ukraine to blow up the pipeline, in which case the Andromeda could have displayed a Ukrainian flag alongside the flag of the country the ship originated from, or if it was a secret operation, then displaying such a flag makes no sense at all.
The story about the bad weather also seems to be made up. Photos of the exploded pipeline show sunny weather.
The real question is what is the origin of the Wall Street Journal story and why would a respected newspaper like the Wall Street Journal run a story that cannot be verified.
The story has undermined both Zelensky and Zalushny’s credibility. Was the story leaked to the Wall Street Journal to prepare Zelensky and Zalushny’s replacements? Zalushny is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, but at the time of the pipeline incident he was chief of staff of the Ukrainian armed forces. More importantly, he was touted as Zelensky’s replacement. But Zalushny is as hard-line on Russia as Zelensky, so he may not be the preferred Western candidate to replace Zelensky. The Wall Street Journal may have been used to push Zelensky and Zalushny out of office.
It is noteworthy that the article points out that the German authorities have no evidence against Zaluzhny to present in court, so Zaluzhny (who denies any involvement in Nord Stream) remains in office and will not face charges in German courts.
Zelensky also denied any involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline.
Other authors, most notably Seymour Hersh, have argued that Nordstream was destroyed in an operation conducted by the United States, possibly with the help of others. Hersh provided a detailed description of how the operation unfolded. He correctly notes that senior U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden and former Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, openly pushed for the pipeline’s destruction. Having declared the pipeline’s destruction and not knowing who was tasked with carrying it out, the U.S. found itself in an awkward position. The same is true of the German government, which has supported U.S. denials of involvement in the pipeline affair and tried to pin it on the Ukrainians. The “Ukraine did it” story was leaked to shift blame onto the Ukrainians. While the earlier stories did not allege Zelensky or Zalushny’s involvement, the latest leaks are aimed directly at them. Germany is in lockstep with Washington.
All this is playing out while the Ukraine war is likely in its final stages. Even Ukraine’s Kursk operation is openly aimed at setting the stage for peace talks with Russia. It is clear that Zelensky (who is allied with nationalist right-wing elements in the army) is the wrong interlocutor and is unlikely to be acceptable to the Russians. If he leaves soon, one can assume that a more compliant replacement will take his place at the negotiating table.
Zelensky, meanwhile, has a major problem with Washington that goes beyond his intransigence. The Washington Post reported in its August 17 edition that the attack on the Kursk derailed sensitive, secret negotiations in Qatar aimed at a partial ceasefire focused on Ukraine and Russia’s energy infrastructure. If an agreement is reached, it would open the door to peace talks.
The Ukrainians, led by Zelensky and Syrsky, undermined the agreement in four ways: (1) by invading Kursk, which gave the Russians an incentive to further punish Ukraine; (2) by Ukraine’s attempt to get its troops in Kursk to attack the Kursk nuclear power plant (a goal they failed to achieve); (3) by using long-range weapons against strong US resistance; and (4) by launching a drone strike on the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, which destroyed one of two cooling towers.
In addition, there are reports that Ukraine is planning a major military operation against the nuclear power plant and is preparing to carry it out soon. Other reports – as yet unconfirmed but appearing on the Telegram channel – say that Ukraine is preparing a “dirty bomb” for use on Russian territory.
If all of the above reports are true – and some of them are certainly true – Zelensky has become a villain not only for Russia but also for the United States.
*Stephen D. Bryen is a former U.S. Department of Defense official, senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, and senior correspondent for Asia Times. (IDN-InDepthNews)
Original link: https://weapons.substack.com/p/zelensky-zaluzhny-are-targeted-by
Photo by: YACHT. Photo credit: B. Scheurer.
