Americans were aware of intelligence warning of Ukrainian pipeline attacks

An intelligence summary showed that the United States and European allies had reason to believe even before the attack that Ukraine viewed the pipelines as a target. Photo / AP

US intelligence agencies learned from a European ally that the Ukrainian military had planned an attack on the Nord Stream pipelines, three months before saboteurs bombed the underwater network, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

US officials had previously told The New York Times that they believed pro-Ukrainian groups were responsible for the Nord Stream attack. More recently, US officials have said that groups loosely directed by Ukraine’s government were responsible for a series of covert attacks, including on the Nord Stream pipelines.

But an intelligence summary posted on a Discord server and obtained by The Washington Post showed that US and European allies had reason to believe even before the September attacks that Ukraine viewed the pipelines as a tempting sabotage target — and had specific details about a planned operation using divers and deep-water equipment.

The CIA shared the European intelligence report with Germany and other countries last June, the Post reported. When warning Germany, officials said, nothing was held back from what the US government knew.

Why it matters: Support for Ukraine could be at risk

While some US officials are becoming more comfortable with Ukraine’s covert attacks on Russia, concerns remain about the possibility of miscalculation by Ukraine while conducting such operations. Sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines was exactly the kind of operation that would concern the United States — a symbolic attack with little military value that carries a high risk of fracturing the alliance supporting Ukraine.

So far, that has not happened. Even as Germany and other European countries have learned of Ukrainian involvement in the pipeline attack, they have nevertheless increased their military aid.

US officials insisted Tuesday that there has been no determination about who within the Ukrainian government may have planned or authorised the attack. If it is eventually pinned on senior officials, European attitudes about support for Ukraine could change.

Background: Ukraine’s control over covert action groups is murky

The Post withheld some details of the intelligence, including the name of the European country giving the report to the United States, to protect the sources of the information.

US officials have long acknowledged that they were aware of a warning that came from a European ally about a potential attack on the pipelines, but for months after the attack they maintained they were unsure who conducted it.

While officials acknowledged there was some early intelligence pointing to Ukraine, they said it was contradicted by other material, in essence saying they did not believe the European warning was a smoking gun.

As the investigation continued, US and allied officials became more convinced that pro-Ukrainian groups carried out the attack and parts of the Ukrainian government were somehow involved.

The Post reported that the European intelligence report said the Ukrainian operatives involved in the plot to destroy the pipelines reported to Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s senior military officer.

US officials have still not confirmed Zaluzhnyi’s involvement. But they said again Tuesday that they do not believe President Volodymyr Zelenskyy knew about it. Officials have previously described a system created by Ukraine’s government that insulates Zelenskyy from covert action programmes.

That allows parts of the Ukrainian government to use pro-Ukrainian groups or sympathizers in Russia to conduct covert attacks, and for Zelenskyy to deny responsibility for such actions.

What’s next: Europe is still investigating

The CIA declined to discuss the document or the attack investigation. John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, said he would not discuss intelligence matters, highlighting that the document was “one that The Washington Post even said was not corroborated by US intelligence agencies.”

Kirby said the United States was still awaiting the results of three ongoing investigations of the Nord Stream sabotage.

Officials say the United States is unlikely to place any public blame for the destruction of the pipelines on Ukraine until after those investigations are done.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Written by: Julian E. Barnes

©2023 THE NEW YORK TIMES