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At least two Ukrainians could be behind Nord Stream blasts — newspaper

According to a probe conducted by Suddeutsche Zeitung daily and other German and European media, several months ago Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office found the Feeria Lwowa travel agency in Poland, which chartered the Andromeda yacht used by the suspects of the Nord Stream blasts

BERLIN, May 21. /TASS/. At least two Ukrainians could be behind the explosions at the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, Germanys’ Suddeutsche Zeitung daily said on Sunday.

According to a probe conducted by the daily and other German and European media, several months ago Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office found the Feeria Lwowa travel agency in Poland, which chartered the Andromeda yacht used by the suspects of the Nord Stream blasts to reach the site. The travel agency reportedly sent a corresponding e-mail request to Germany’s Mola Yachting headquartered on the Rugen island.

The newspaper says however that many things indicate that Feeria Lwowa was a sham company. It was set up in 2016 and registered by two Ukrainians. There was nothing extraordinary about this company before 2020 but during the pandemic it suddenly earned 2.8 million euro. Today, it is officially owned by a 32-year-old woman from Kerch, with her Ukrainian passport being recorded in the polish company’s documents.

A 55-year old Ukrainian woman has been the sham company’s director and stake holder since September 2021. According to the newspaper, thee woman is also director of several companies in Poland and Ukraine. The Suddeutsche Zeitung doesn’t rule out that the sum of 2.8 million euro could be linked with the Andromeda’s insurance.

According to the second theory of the Nord Stream incident, which is being checked by German investigators, Ukrainian citizens could be involved. Thus, several members of the supposed sabotage group who could be involved in the Nord Stream blasts used fake Bulgarian and Romanian passports to rent the Andromeda yacht. One of such passports was issued to a Romanian national Stefan Marcu, who, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung, could in fact be a 26-year-old Ukrainian national, probably a serviceman of the Ukrainian army. The man is said to have specific tattoos and now he is taking part in combat operation in Ukraine. The Suddeutsche Zeitung and its partners have also identified one more Ukrainian national who could be involved in the act of sabotage. He is a man from Odessa who is known to investigators. Supposedly, he did not take part in the acts of sabotage as such but played rather an auxiliary role.

On September 27, 2022, Nord Stream AG reported "unprecedented damage" on three strings of the offshore gas pipelines of the Nord Stream system. Later, Swedish seismologists said they had identified two explosions on the route of the Nord Stream pipelines on September 26, 2022. Following the incident, the Russian prosecutor general’s office opened a case on charges of international terrorism.