MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. The Kremlin does not believe that some pro-Ukrainian individuals could have been behind the Nord Stream explosions, as only a handful of intelligence services are capable of committing such a terrorist attack, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"As for [the idea that there exists] some sort of pro-Ukrainian ‘Doctor Evil’ who [allegedly] organized this: it’s hard to believe. It was too difficult an operation that could only be carried out by a well-trained state-sponsored special service. There are not that many of them in the world," he said, commenting on a number of foreign media publications about the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream pipelines.

He highlighted that media reports about who was allegedly behind this terrorist attack had been "released simultaneously in different countries."

"You see that the Anglo-Saxons, whom we’ve been talking about from the very beginning, are working up a sweat. They obviously are having a lot of uncomfortable interactions with the Germans due to this terrorist attack," Peskov said.

 

Russia to call for investigation

 

The Kremlin official stressed that it is necessary to identify those who ordered the crime and those who executed it, "because it is too dangerous a precedent to [permit] the commission of an act of terror against an internationally critical piece of energy infrastructure."

"We are still calling for a prompt, transparent probe. We are still demanding that we be given access to this investigation. We believe that one should not soft-pedal it. Diverting attention <...> to some secondary theories and hypotheses - [this] should not be allowed either," the Kremlin spokesman said.

 

Publications on the sabotage of Nord Stream

 

As the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, the German probe has almost completely ruled out the initial theory of Russia's involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, while the United States does not believe in Russia’s culpability either.

On Tuesday, the New York Times reported, citing US officials, that a "pro-Ukrainian group" that acted without the knowledge of US authorities could have committed the sabotage on the gas pipelines. The Zeit newspaper wrote that German investigators had identified a vessel used by the saboteurs. The company that rented it allegedly belonged to Ukrainian citizens and was registered in Poland.

On Wednesday, the Times [of London] reported that European intelligence agencies were aware of the name of a "private sponsor" of the sabotage. While his identity is not being disclosed by the security services, he is described as a wealthy Ukrainian who purportedly has no links to President Vladimir Zelensky and his government.

On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported unprecedented damage that occurred the day before on three strings of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines. On September 26, 2022, Swedish seismologists registered two explosions on the pipeline routes. The Russian Prosecutor General's Office subsequently opened a criminal case based on charges of international terrorism.