exclusive
In the course of the Nord Stream investigation, the Federal Criminal Police Office searched an apartment in Germany and questioned a woman. The witness is apparently the former partner of a Ukrainian suspect.
It is probably one of the most explosive investigations that has ever been conducted in Germany – the case of the bomb attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022. For months, the Attorney General has been investigating “anti-constitutional sabotage” on the seabed. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and the Federal Police were tasked with finding the perpetrators who had destroyed the pipes at a depth of around 70 meters.
The German investigators have been focusing on a 15-meter-long sailing yacht for some time: the “Andromeda”. It is said to have set sail from Rostock at the beginning of September. The people who apparently drove it across the Baltic Sea had probably presented falsified passports to the boat rental company. The BKA later discovered traces of explosives on this yacht.
Several traces to Ukraine
After research by WDR, NDR and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ) are said to lead to several leads in the rental of the “Andromeda” in Ukraine, namely in circles of the Ukrainian military.
It is about a travel agency in Warsaw, which apparently only serves as a letterbox company – and about a forged Romanian passport, which according to the German investigators is said to have been used by a young Ukrainian. He, in turn, is said to have connections to the Ukrainian military. The investigators are also keeping an eye on other people they believe to be suspected supporters.
Search of witness
In the past few weeks, the BKA, according to research by WDR, NDR and SZ the home of a non-suspect in the course of the Nord Stream investigation in Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg and questioned the resident as a witness. It is said to be the former partner of a Ukrainian suspect who is being specifically investigated. She is said to have been questioned. Investigators also seized her cell phone.
The witness and the suspect Ukrainian apparently have a child together. They are said to have lived together for a while. The BKA investigators have therefore, according to information from WDR, NDR and SZ also took a DNA sample from the child to compare it with DNA traces from the sailing yacht “Andromeda”. They want to check whether the suspect was actually on the boat in September 2022.
A spokeswoman for the Attorney General confirmed that “on May 25, the apartment of a non-suspect person in Frankfurt (Oder) was searched.” No further details about the ongoing investigation were given. The Federal Criminal Police Office did not want to comment on request.
International investigations also continue
In addition to the German proceedings, there are also investigations into the Nord Stream attacks in other European countries. For example, the Danish and Swedish law enforcement authorities are also involved in the case. However, hardly anything is known about the results of the investigation there so far. The responsible Swedish public prosecutor recently said only: “We have a very good picture of what happened at the crime scene and how it was carried out.”
Several media outlets have also reported in recent months on suspicious Russian military ships that were in the vicinity shortly before the Nord Stream pipelines exploded. Some of these ships had switched off their signals so that they could not be located.
In German security circles it is said that this approach by Russian military ships is not unusual, but takes place regularly in the Baltic Sea. NATO is still able to track the movements of the ships. The German investigators also followed these tracks, evaluating satellite images and radio recordings.
From the point of view of the investigators, however, the most concrete lead so far is the sailing yacht “Andromeda”, even if it cannot be ruled out that the investigators are pursuing tracks intentionally laid by others – it is a so-called “false flag operation”. .
BND sees little chance of clarification
Official statements from the German side recently sounded cautious. At an event in Berlin, the President of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Bruno Kahl, dampened hopes of a speedy clarification. “No country in the world, no intelligence service in the world is currently in a position to specifically attribute that,” ie to blame someone for the crime. That’s what Kahl said last week at the Federal Academy for Security Policy (Baks). According to him, there are “points in all possible directions.”
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit also did not want to commit himself last week: “We can only make meaningful statements if we have clues or hard evidence of who is behind this act,” said Hebestreit. However, Hebestreit made it clear that “a good deal of at least criminal, perhaps also terrorist energy” is necessary to carry out such an act.