{"id":15936,"date":"2026-08-24T15:20:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/?p=15936"},"modified":"2026-08-24T15:20:52","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T12:20:52","slug":"zelensky-contradicts-german-investigators-on-nord-stream-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/zelensky-contradicts-german-investigators-on-nord-stream-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"Zelensky Contradicts German Investigators on Nord Stream Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Speaking to journalists on Sunday, <strong>Zelenskyy<\/strong> stated that Ukraine was &#8220;never officially involved in any operation&#8221; connected to the pipeline explosions, according to <em>Junge Freiheit<\/em>. His denial directly challenges the working theory of Germany&#8217;s Federal Prosecutor&#8217;s Office, which has been leading the investigation into the September 2022 attacks.<\/p>\n<p>German investigators announced in July that based on current evidence, plans for the sabotage were developed on behalf of state entities in Ukraine. The operation&#8217;s stated objective was to permanently block Russian gas deliveries through the Baltic pipelines and thereby deprive Moscow of revenue to finance the war effort.<\/p>\n<p>Zelenskyy countered this assessment, claiming Germany knows &#8220;very well&#8221; that Ukraine &#8220;was neither behind the execution nor the conception of this operation.&#8221; He added that Kyiv is supporting German authorities in their investigation.<\/p>\n<h2>Ukraine Fears Damage to German Relations<\/h2>\n<p>The Ukrainian president made clear the political stakes involved in the ongoing probe. &#8220;It is very important for us not to lose our partnership, not to lose the trust of European countries that have been helping Ukraine since the beginning of this war,&#8221; Zelenskyy said. He expressed hope that the case would not cause a rupture in relations with Germany.<\/p>\n<p>While Kyiv rejects any state-level involvement, German investigators continue to build their case against Ukrainian citizens. Just last Wednesday, Croatian authorities arrested another suspect in connection with the attack. According to the Federal Prosecutor&#8217;s Office, the man is believed to have been part of the diving team that attached explosives to the pipelines in September 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The Ukrainian suspect faces charges including jointly causing an explosive detonation, anti-constitutional sabotage, and destruction of infrastructure. Germany is seeking his extradition.<\/p>\n<h2>Alleged Ring Leader Already in German Custody<\/h2>\n<p>Another defendant is already in German pre-trial detention. <strong>Serhii K.<\/strong>, a former Ukrainian military officer, was arrested during a vacation in Italy in August 2025 and subsequently extradited to Germany. Federal prosecutors consider him a suspected leader of the sabotage group.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of June, charges were filed against him. Beyond explosives offenses and destruction of infrastructure, he is also accused of complicity in a war crime through an attack on civilian objects.<\/p>\n<p>The Nord Stream sabotage investigation has become increasingly sensitive as evidence continues to point toward Ukrainian operatives, even as Zelenskyy&#8217;s government maintains its denials of official involvement. The diplomatic implications for Ukraine&#8217;s relationship with its most important European ally remain a significant concern for Kyiv.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:right\"><em>With information from <a href=\"https:\/\/jungefreiheit.de\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Junge Freiheit<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denied his country&#8217;s official involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, contradicting German investigators who believe the operation was planned on behalf of Ukrainian state entities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":15935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[9521,25,12017,214,12019,211,6799],"nfg_topic":[134],"class_list":["post-15936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-baltic-sea","tag-germany","tag-nord-stream-pipeline","tag-russia","tag-sabotage-investigation","tag-ukraine","tag-volodymyr-zelenskyy","nfg_topic-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15946,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15936\/revisions\/15946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15936"},{"taxonomy":"nfg_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsfire.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/nfg_topic?post=15936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}