The attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.
Was it an attack on Germany?
It’s an attack of historic dimensions.
Did this inconspicuous sailing yacht really have something to do with it?
Did deep sea divers blow up the pipelines?
To find out, we even plumb the depths of the Baltic Sea.
We’re most certainly being watched
The clues lead us to Ukraine, where we track down suspects.
Are you **** kidding me?
It’s the kind of attack that could have triggered a wide-ranging war.
And it’s one of the biggest mysteries of our time.
Around the world, people are asking: Who could have did this?
We’re on our way to the crime scene, 120 kilometers off the German coast.
We plan to dive to the spots where the explosion took place
and see for ourselves: Could just a few divers have carried out this
attack of historic dimensions?
We’ve chartered a dive boat and a professional crew to find out.
So we’re right at the spot where the first attack took place:
on Nord Stream 2, south-east of Bornholm.
This red arrow is where we are now.
If you zoom in here, you can see this dotted line.
That’s the pipeline.
We soon realize that nothing goes unnoticed in the Baltic Sea.
Military vessels patrol these waters constantly.
The world’s major powers keep a close eye on one another here.
Russian warship, Delta Echo, US warship.
That must be the Russian warship back there we just heard about.
Which means we’re most certainly being watched here.
The scene of the crime lies more than 70 meters below the water’s surface.
That’s why we’ve brought along professional divers,
who are specially trained for deep-sea dives.
I’ve been trying to convince myself it’s just a normal dive.
But I haven’t quite succeeded!
Each diver is carrying around 100 kilos worth of equipment.
For deep sea dives, they need a special gas mixture,
composed of oxygen, helium and nitrogen.
A year after the attacks, German investigators’
most promising theory sounds incredible.
This spectacular act of sabotage was carried out.
with the help of a sailboat?
In Germany, the investigations are top secret.
At first, not even a dozen officials
were briefed on details of the investigation.
Still, we — a team from ARD, Süddeutsche and Die Zeit newspapers,
along with international partners — managed to find a few answers.
Germany’s Federal Chancellery is home to a special “tap-proof room”.
Only those with the highest security clearance can enter it.
It’s here that the heads of Germany’s secret service
provide government leaders with reports on terrorism,
wars and espionage.
And it was in this room where, not long after the attacks,
a tip from the Dutch Intelligence and Security Service came to light.
It claimed that a special forces commando from Ukraine
blew up the pipelines.
And that the bombers had used a boat
which had departed from Germany’s Baltic Sea coast.
The search began.
We were able to find out that German investigators
had been able to identify the suspect yacht
and we were the first to report on it.
And here it is: the Andromeda.
The vessel is the German investigators’ hottest lead to date.
A good 15-meters in length, the yacht sleeps ten in five cabins.
But what connects the boat to the Nord Stream blasts?
Investigators say traces of the same explosives
secured at the crime scene were found inside the Andromeda.
Here’s their reconstruction of events:
On September 6th, 2022, a group of six people
are thought to have kicked off the operation in Rostock.
Eye witnesses report seeing a white van
arrive at the city‘s Hohe Düne marina.
There the crew boarded a yacht and set sail.
Witnesses say that five men and one woman were on board.
Some of them were likely divers.
Possible explosions in the area where the leaks were observed...
At 2:03 a.m., an explosion was detected in Pipe A of Nord Stream 2,
southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm.
Exactly 17 hours later, three more explosions were measured
just seconds apart.
The blasts were so strong they were registered by far away seismometers.
Three days later, another leak was discovered in Nord Stream 2.
Nord Stream 1 was rendered completely inoperable.
Just one pipe of Nord Stream 2 remained intact.
Investigations have been launched in Germany,
Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Russia.
In Germany, the Public Prosecutor General is heading the proceedings.
The alleged offences include “anti-constitutional sabotage”
At any rate, it’s an attack of historic dimensions.
Because it was all targeted against a country’s infrastructure.
That has glaring and very far-reaching aftereffects.
So we really ought to speak of this as an historic break.
It's the kind of attack that, in past environments,
could have triggered a wide-ranging war.
There are many possible culprits and motives for the attack,
because, internationally, few projects were as contentious as Nord Stream.
Championed by two friends: Russia’s Vladimir Putin
and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.
We need this gas and it’s the most economical way to get it.
And everyone who deals with energy policy knows that.
This cheap gas flowed directly from Vyborg, Russia to Lubmin in Germany
a distance of over 1200 kilometers.
The pipeline right through the Baltic was a kick in the teeth
for Eastern European countries who’d long earned good money
from the pipelines running through their territories.
Ukraine was skeptical right from the start,
as it foresaw exactly what, in fact, would happen:
Namely, this bypassing of Ukraine and other countries like Poland,
which also saw the risks.
And because they, themselves, had pipeline systems
which supplied gas to Western Europe.
Time and again, the US also criticized the Nord Stream project.
Nord Stream 2 would simply give Russia an opportunity
to put more of a stranglehold on Ukraine
and Ukraine’s economy during this time of tension.
And so we were very much against it for geopolitical purposes.
Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine,
US President Joe Biden threatened to put a stop to the pipeline.
If Russia invades that means tanks or troops crossing the border of Ukraine.
Again, then there will be no longer a Nord Stream 2.
We will bring an end to it.
Following the attacks, this highly politicized environment
led to the proliferation of various theories.
A prominent one comes from Seymour Hersh.
How America Took Out the Nord Stream Pipeline
The famous US journalist says he’s uncovered evidence that the US did it.
US Navy divers planted the explosives under the cover of a NATO exercise,
Hersch claims.
His theory has found a ready audience
some believe the US is capable of anything.
But most experts doubt the credibility of Hersh’s claims.
They note that his story is based on just ONE anonymous source,
and that some of the details are provably false.
Other theories focus on another major power.
A lot of experts say: 'Russia'
Those who believe Russia was behind the sabotage
mainly point to the movements of Russian ships,
which they view as suspicious.
A ship from Russia is said to have been positioned
very close to the site of the attack
just days before the explosions occurred.
But is that enough to presume that Russia also planted the explosives,
possibly even employing mini submarines?
German investigators also analyzed satellite images
to see if there’s anything behind these suspicions.
But, to date, they say they’ve seen no proof the attack
was carried out by Russian ships.
So far, the Public Prosecutor has only reported
on its investigation behind closed doors.
But we obtained a protocol of the meeting.
that government-controlled perpetrators from Russia
could be responsible.
In short: Some military ships were sighted.
Of course, we’re also following these leads,
but so far we have no concrete evidence,
nor any other proof or confirmation.
So the German investigators continue to concentrate on the sailing yacht
and try to reconstruct its route.
After setting sail from Rostock,
the alleged saboteurs are thought to have made stops at:
Wiek on the island of Rügen;
the Danish islands of Bornholm and Christiansø; and Kołobrzeg, Poland.
And we discover: the Andromeda evidently dropped anchor
at Sandhamn, Sweden, too.
Did anyone see the crew?
We aim to find out and track down one witness.
This German yachtsman says he met the Andromeda’s crew.
There were two men standing there with short hair.
Military, I’d say.
Really short, like buzz cuts and a woman in the background.
A brunette.
I saw six people in total.
But they were partly below deck.
Their age?
Much younger than I am.
40 or so?
Nobody was really young.
Then, in Sandhamn harbor, Thorsten Bruns
observed something that quickly needed attention.
A third boat needed help docking.
But the alleged bombers did nothing.
They made no effort whatsoever to help.
A yachtsman who sees something like that gets off his boat and helps.
But they didn’t do that.
They just stood on the boat and watched.
After that I approached them
and tried to explain that that’s not what you do.
Pune: How did they react?
One translated for the other,
into an Eastern European language I didn’t understand.
Another eyewitness tells us: The crew was very loud,
and smoked cigarettes while riding bikes along the pier.
Why the crew dropped anchor here and at other locations remains unclear.
The alleged bombers didn’t just raise eyebrows in Sweden.
In Kołobrzeg, too, the harbor master remembers the crew.
We talk with him
with the help of a Polish colleague on the other end of the phone.
It stood right there.
It was the third yacht from the front.
Do you remember how long it was there?
They arrived in the afternoon and the next morning they cast off again.
The flag was German, but the accents were Eastern European
that’s what caught my attention.
And why I called the border guards.
The Polish public prosecutor’s office confirmed to us
that the Andromeda was here and that its crew was checked out.
German investigators figure there’s even video footage
of the crew in the harbor.
But Poland has yet to provide them with any images.
Clearly cooperation is lacking.
We meet with the Polish Secretary of State
responsible for coordinating
the country’s security and intelligence services.
He suspects the Russians are behind the attacks
and isn’t convinced by Germany’s findings.
We’re convinced there weren’t any explosives or explosive materials
on this yacht to blow Nord Stream 2 or 1 up with.
That means, this operation, this unit,
had nothing to do with those incidents.
As far as I know, they were just people who wanted to enjoy themselves.
This trip had a purely touristic character.
There was no one on it who had even the slightest military
or sabotage-related training.
How credible is it that the Andromeda was chartered by ordinary tourists?
Because fake passports were clearly used to rent the yacht.
We know that a Romanian and a Bulgarian passport were presented.
The Bulgarian passport was made out in the name of Mihail Popov.
German investigators figure this is an assumed name.
Apparently the skipper of the yacht used this forged passport.
Another passport was issued to a man with a common Romanian name.
The photo was clearly exchanged for another.
The investigators believe the man who REALLY is depicted in this photo
is named Valerii K.
He’s thought to hail from Ukraine.
Photos on social media show him in uniform, adding to the controversy.
Could this mean a Ukrainian soldier took part in the attack?
And, if so, whose orders was he following?
Germany’s Public Prosecutor made reference to Valerii K.
in a closed meeting:
We have succeeded in almost certainly identifying a person who
I’m being very cautious now — could possibly be an accomplice.
A journey into a country at war.
We decide to follow the suspect’s traces
and look for Valerii K. in Ukraine.
To ask him: Did you have anything to do with the attacks
on the Nord Stream pipelines?
We found several addresses for Valerii K
so we’re not sure whether he actually lives here.
We suspect that his apartment lies on the other side of this door,
but it remains closed.
So we ask the neighbor.
Hi.
Can I show you a photo? Do you know him?
No, never seen him.
He doesn’t live here?
No, different folks do.
At the second address, jackpot.
Valerii K’s grandmother suddenly shows up.
You’ve not seen him in a while?
Not for a while.
When was the last time?
Hhm... how long ago, probably a year.
He’s in the defense.
He’s serving now?
Yes
And you don’t talk to him?
No, only during the rare times he calls
He doesn’t come home?
No.
Gotcha.
Is it him?
Yes
Right now he’s under pressure from all sides;
he’s being put down and humiliated.
Why’s he being pressured like that?
I don’t know.
It’s all.
Sorry... I don’t want to talk further.
His family says that Valerij K.
was at the front when the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines took place.
We can’t reach him to confirm this.
We have seen no evidence that Valerij K. was ever in Germany at all
never mind on the yacht.
And evidently no traces of his DNA were found on board.
Yet his passport photo was used to rent the Andromeda.
In the meantime, Valerii K
is said to have protested his innocence to his family.
Could it be that someone purposely used his identity?
And that the traces which lead to him were left deliberately?
Would highly professional bombers
leave passport photos and explosives behind?
Does someone want the investigators to find these clues?
My professional experience tells me,
or gives me reason to suspect or feel that it’s too good to be true.
Who’s not to tell you or me that the person who comes from Ukraine
wasn’t motivated by a Russian secret service officer
to leave those red herrings right from the start?
Mind you, that’s purely conjecture,
of course!
To date, German investigators clearly believe
there’s no indication this was a false flag operation.
But whoever it was, one thing’s clear: It happened here:
Best do another oxygen flow check on the rubber boat.
According to our sonar device,
the crater caused by the explosion
should be located over 70 meters below our current location.
The divers have descended.
Please note the time.
The divers can spend a maximum of 40 minutes on the seafloor.
That’s because, to equalize the pressure,
they need hours to resurface.
In the Baltic Sea, visibility is poor,
making it hard for the divers to find their way.
The good news is we’re back.
The bad news is: Here there’s no pipeline we can reach.
They can do just one dive per day.
Any more could prove life-threatening.
The next day, the divers set off again from a different location,
but with the same goal.
To find the shattered pipeline.
They reach the seabed.
But where is the pipeline?
The divers must use extremely bright lights to make out anything at all.
Here it is: Nord Stream 2.
But where’s the leak?
Here are the first traces of the explosion.
Steel and concrete were simply ripped apart.
And the pipe burst.
The pipeline is easy to recognize;
it’s around a meter above the seafloor.
The visibility got really bad all of a sudden.
The ground was gone and we were at the end of the pipeline,
at the exit point.
You could really see how the metal was bent outwards.
The dive is complicated and risky.
The diving team knows the dangers from their daily work.
Their verdict: Planting explosives here would be tough, but possible.
If the weather were good, and they took along a decent echo sounder,
which you could with such a craft
If all else worked, it would be doable.
The German investigators have no more doubts either.
It could have been done using a yacht.
It’s always being discussed whether such a crime
could even be committed with a completely ‘ordinary’ yacht.
The opinion of the experts is:
Yes, even with a yacht like the one being talked about here,
it is possible.
At the German Federal Chancellery, the Criminal Police Office — the BKA
presents its latest findings about the Nord Stream blasts and the yacht.
For investigators, the explosives used were especially significant.
An analysis determined HMX, also known as octogen, was employed.
It’s an explosive used almost exclusively in military applications.
Could this help identify the culprits?
Octogen isn’t an explosive you can just produce at home in your garage.
The explosives typically used in terrorist attacks
are ones that can be made from common chemicals.
Yet octogen is a relatively complex synthesis.
That means the terrorists who blew up the pipeline
must have sourced it from somewhere.
Now pieces of the mangled pipeline
lie spread over hundreds of meters on the seafloor.
The magnitude of the devastation raised doubts in the press
as to whether an ordinary yacht could have wreaked such havoc.
We’re talking about hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of explosives
that were alleged to have been used in this operation.
But is that true? Were masses of explosives needed?
The natural gas was being pushed through the pipelines
at pressures of over 100 bar.
Researchers have analyzed data which shows
that even a small hole would be enough to burst the pipes.
We've been modelling, then both my colleagues in Germany
and in California and what, how much would we actually need
of the explosion to produce what we're seeing in the data.
We are saying now that you definitely need less than 50 kilos of explosives
to produce the pattern that we're observing.
It’s also findings like these that have led the yacht Andromeda
to remain the German investigators’ hottest lead.
That the Andromeda plays a role in this setting is,
from all the publicly available info, pretty clear and probable, too.
But the pivotal question is: What role?
And did it play it alone, or was there possibly a second or third ship?
And was there just the one crew, or were its members exchanged somewhere?
Ultimately, all of these things are crucial to answering the question
of what we’re dealing with here.
But so far it’s just the one yacht that German investigators
have in their sights.
So they’ve followed the clues pertaining to the way it was rented.
The yacht was booked via email.
The German investigators believe that this email
was also sent by a man from Ukraine.
His name is known to us, but here we’ll call him Maxim B.
He’s thought to work for a company that also receives contracts
from the Ukrainian government.
Maxim B. appears to organize maritime services.
We were able to reach him via phone.
Hello. Did you rent a boat called the Andromeda in Rostock, Germany?
Sorry, when was that?
In September of last year.
I don’t remember that.
But that yacht was used in the attack on the Nord Stream pipeline
in the Baltic Sea.
Oh, wow.
And the boat was used for that during the time you’d rented it.
I really can’t recall doing something like that.
Our firm doesn’t work with boats that are motorless and under 100 meters long.
And we don’t work in Western Europe at all.
Should we believe him?
At any rate, the investigators believe this man played a role.
We decide to follow the money hoping it will lead us to the culprits.
The yacht rental was paid for by a company based in Warsaw.
This is where Feeria Lwowa,
a firm that ostensibly makes its money from tourism, should be located.
We ask around inside the building.
One woman tells us that, here, we won’t find anyone
from the company we’re looking for.
Only the company’s legal mailing address is here.
That’s all.
So just a mailbox?
Right. Only their mail comes here.
So it’s a shell company.
Our questions to them went unanswered.
Officially the firm is headed by two women.
But, according to our research, they’re likely just acting as fronts.
We find evidence of a man who’s possibly behind the company.
His name: Rustem A.
He’s Ukrainian and does business with the Ukrainian government.
Is he really the head of the company that rented the Andromeda?
We suspect that Rustem A. is in Kyív.
Our team from ARD, and Süddeutsche and Die ZEIT newspapers,
try to speak with him.
First by phone.
My time is very valuable.
If you pay me 5000 dollars an hour, then gladly.
Otherwise, sorry but my time is valuable.
We won’t take much of your time.
We just have a few questions about Nord Stream and the Andromeda.
If you pay me, then gladly.
If not, then not.
We’re journalists.
We don’t pay.
Then sorry.
Look, do you know prostitutes?
I associate journalists with prostitutes, you get it?
And I don’t meet with prostitutes.
We give it another go.
This time in person.
Rustem A. lives in a neighborhood with tight security.
We wait by the entrance to his courtyard until he appears.
Have you got 5 minutes?
Are you **** kidding me?
Does Rustem A. have something to do with the attacks on Nord Stream?
Did he let the payment for the yacht rental run through his company?
The clues are increasingly leading to Ukraine.
But will they end there?
And if they do: Was the bombing a private operation?
Or was the Ukrainian state involved in some way?
Three months before the explosions, the BND
Germany’s foreign intelligence service
was warned by the Netherlands that an attack on Nord Stream
had been planned back in June.
After the attacks,
this warning finally reached the Chancellor’s office.
In hindsight, it looks like a prophecy.
The warning mentioned a boat and fake passports.
And that General Valerii Zaluzhnyi,
Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s armed forces was said to be involved.
Apparently the CIA was aware of the planned attack
and warned Ukraine against it, saying: If you’re planning something, don’t!
Did Ukraine do it anyway, and launch an attack on Germany’s gas supply?
For the German government,
any evidence of Ukrainian involvement is sensitive.
Because Germany supports Ukraine with weapons and billions of euros
in its war with Russia.
I think the consensus among the political decision makers
to support Ukraine is very, very firm.
But of course, especially in a democracy,
they’re also bound by public opinion.
And naturally something like that
could shake up public opinion about Ukraine,
about Kyív in a big way.
But why would Ukraine take such a risk — especially in the middle of a war?
The Ukrainian government didn’t answer our questions.
But the President himself has publicly denied his country
had any involvement in the sabotage.
It wasn’t Ukraine.
People only assert that to slow down aid to us.
The German government won’t comment on potential culprits.
The Vice Chancellor says everything is still too vague.
If it turns out that Ukraine did it,
will there still be more weapons deliveries?
I don’t want to speculate on that and I’m not allowed to either.
That’s for the public prosecutor to clear up.
And the German Chancellor?
Olaf Scholz declined interviews and didn’t reply to written requests.
We make a final attempt at one of his public appearances.
Mr. Chancellor, a question about Nord Stream?
Once again, no comment.
A year on, investigators are still looking for the saboteurs
who bombed the Nord Stream pipelines — and those who ordered them to do it.
It remains a case against persons unknown.
What is known is that the Andromeda returned to Rostock
a little more than two weeks after it put to sea.
And the alleged saboteurs simply vanished.
They didn’t even come to collect their security deposit
of several thousand euros.
There are clues which point to people from Ukraine.
Yet it remains far from clear
who set sail on the Andromeda in September 2022,
and what really happened on board and on the seafloor.
Many countries and individuals
had a motive to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines.
But the search continues...