A Washington Post report alleges that Ukrainian Colonel Roman Chervinsky "was integral to the brazen sabotage operation" on the Nord Stream pipeline, "according to officials in Ukraine and elsewhere in Europe, as well as other people knowledgeable about the details of the covert operation."The September 26, 2022, bombing partially crimped Russian gas exports and was dubbed a "dangerous assault on Europe's energy infrastructure" by US and Western officials at the time.Chervinsky, a leader of Ukraine's Special Operations Forces, was the alleged "coordinator" of the attack on the pipeline. The operation involved deep-sea diving and explosive charges, ultimately resulting in substantial damage to the pipeline.The Ukrainian colonel refuted the allegations and said Russia was behind them.“Without merit, Russian propaganda is spreading all rumours regarding my participation in the assault on Nord Stream,” Chervinsky stated in a written statement to The Washington Post and Der Spiegel.WaPo reports that Chervinsky is a decorated officer who had plans to ensnare Wagner Group mercenaries and target pro-Russian separatists. WaPo also said that Chervinsky did not act alone or plan the operation, again "according to the people familiar with his role," but instead took orders from more senior Ukrainian officials. These ones ultimately reported to Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s highest-ranking military officer, "according to people familiar with how the operation was carried out."Ukraine President Volodomyr Zelensky has consistently publicly denied his country’s involvement.“I am president and I give orders accordingly,” Zelensky said in a press interview in June, responding to a WaPo report that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had learned of Ukraine’s plans before the attack.“Nothing of the sort has been done by Ukraine. I would never act that way,” Zelensky said.According to WaPo, Chervinsky has been in a Kyiv jail since April on charges that he abused his power in a plot to lure a Russian pilot to defect to Ukraine in July 2022. Authorities allege that Chervinsky acted without permission and that the operation gave away the coordinates of a Ukrainian airfield, prompting a Russian rocket attack that killed a soldier and injured 17 more.Award-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has also made explosive allegations regarding the CIA and the US Navy's covert activities.Throughout “all of this scheming,” a source told Hersch, “some working guys in the CIA and the State Department were saying, ‘Don’t do this. It’s stupid and will be a political nightmare if it comes out.’”Nevertheless, in early 2022, the CIA working group reported back to Sullivan’s interagency group: “We have a way to blow up the pipelines.”Zaluzhny told WaPo in June that the CIA had never asked him directly about any attack on Nord Stream. He said that after the explosions, in September 2022, he received a phone call from then-U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. Mark A. Milley.“He asked me, 'Did you have anything to do with it?' I said, 'No'. A lot of operations are planned, a lot of operations are going on, but we have nothing to do with it, nothing at all."Some who described Chervinsky’s participation in the Nord Stream attack defended him as acting in Ukraine’s best interests.
