BERLIN, August 28. /TASS/. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul acknowledged that there could be some political fallout following the investigation into the explosions at the Nord Stream pipelines, but said that won't become clear until the probe is finished.

Speaking at a press conference during his visit to Estonia aired by the press service of the German Foreign Ministry on the X social network, Wadephul reiterated that the investigators launched criminal proceedings against the individuals suspected of destroying the pipelines. "As this is a state governed by the rule of law, we must wait for the results of this investigation. When the results come in, then I will be able to make an assessment and, if necessary, draw any political conclusions," the top German diplomat said.

On August 27, ARD television reported, citing a joint probe conducted by Die Zeit and Suddeutsche Zeitung newspapers, that some crew members of the sailing yacht Andromeda which was presumably used for the sabotage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines "clearly had ties" to Ukraine’s secret services or military.

Last week, a 49-year-old Ukrainian man, Sergey Kusnetsov, was arrested in Italy on suspicion of complicity in organizing the attack on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. Some reports indicate that Kuznetsov worked for Ukrainian intelligence.

Earlier, Die Zeit newspaper reported that German investigators had identified all the saboteurs behind the explosions that damaged the pipelines. Arrest warrants have been issued for six Ukrainian nationals, while the seventh individual, the newspaper said, apparently died in combat in eastern Ukraine in December 2024. According to the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the sabotage team included a skipper, a coordinator, an explosives expert, and four divers. These individuals are believed to have arrived at the crime scene in the Baltic Sea aboard the sailing yacht Andromeda, coming from Rostock.

About Nord Stream blaёsts

On September 26, 2022, three strings of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines sustained severe damage. The latter had not yet been put into operation. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moscow is certain that the Nord Stream sabotage was carried out with US support. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened an investigation into an act of international terrorism.