SPIEGEL: CIA Informed of Plans to Sabotage Nord Stream Pipelines

The CIA was made aware of a Ukrainian group’s plans to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines well before the attack occurred.

According to a SPIEGEL investigation, the first meetings between U.S. officials and Ukrainian experts took place in spring 2022 in Kyiv’s Podilskyi district.

During these meetings, the Ukrainian side proposed the idea of destroying the pipelines that carried Russian gas to Germany.

CIA Involvement in the Sabotage

According to participants in the meetings, at the initial stage, American agents acted as ‘friendly listeners’.

Sources say that during the second meeting, the U.S. intelligence even signaled support. The Ukrainian group got the impression that the U.S. might not only approve the plan but also assist with its funding.

Information about the planned explosions, which were given the code name ‘Diameter,’ was passed on to the Americans over several months. The saboteurs considered different routes, types of explosives, and sought professional divers to work at depths of up to 80 meters.

Throughout this time, the CIA representatives in Kyiv remained informed about the progress of the operation, which, according to insiders, was approved by then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi.