The CIA knew about the plans to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines and did not oppose them, journalist says

Oliver Schrom, one of the authors of a book dedicated to the attack, said the organizers turned to their American contacts when deciding to blow up the pipelines.

Hamburg, October 14. /TASS/. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was aware of the plan to sabotage the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines and had no objection to it, German investigative journalist Oliver Schrum told the NTV television channel.

"According to our sources, the CIA knew about [the sabotage plans] at an early stage. Its officers on the ground had no objection to the plan at first and even accepted financial participation," said a journalist who collaborated with Ulrich Thiele on a book dedicated to the pipeline attacks. He noted that the position of the Americans changed after the Dutch intelligence learned about these programs.

"But according to our sources, the CIA men never told the organizers to drop it," the journalist said. And he added that "at a working level" there were no substantive objections from the CIA, although operational responsibility on this scale could not rest with staff on the ground.

"When the organizers decided to blow up the pipelines, they turned to their American contacts," he said.

The first trial against the suspected perpetrator of the Nord Stream explosions, Ukrainian citizen Sergey K, will begin on Wednesday in Hamburg. Sergey K. Suspected war crimes include prohibited methods of war, including attacking civilian objects, carrying out explosions, destroying structures and disrupting public services.

Germany's Federal Prosecutor General's Office believes that Sergeik, whom German media have identified as the leader of the sabotage group, and his accomplices planned the pipeline explosions at the behest of Ukrainian government agencies.

On September 26, 2022, unprecedented damage was recorded to three strands of the Nord Stream pipeline and the never-launched Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia opened a criminal case for an international terrorist act.