Spiegel claims Ukrainian group tied to Nord Stream sabotage discussed plans with CIA contacts

Journalists from the German newspaper Spiegel have claimed that Ukrainians linked to the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines were in contact with individuals connected to the CIA in spring 2022 and discussed their intentions.

Spiegel claims that its journalists spoke with "several sources in Ukraine" who were aware of contact between the Ukrainian team and the Americans, and whose previous information had proven accurate and was later confirmed by German investigators.

Members of the Ukrainian group and their long-standing CIA contacts are said to have met in Kyiv's Podilskyi district in spring 2022, shortly after Ukrainian forces had fully repelled the Russian offensive on the capital. It was reportedly at this meeting that the Ukrainians first expressed their intention to take action against the Russian pipelines, which continued to generate revenues for Russia to fund the war.

At that stage, the CIA-linked sources supposedly listened with interest and made no objection, possibly in order to obtain more detailed information.

Further meetings followed, during which technical details were discussed. By the second meeting, the Ukrainian participants had even gained the impression that the Americans might help with the financial aspect of the plan.

It was only later that the Americans changed their position and began to discourage the Ukrainian group from carrying out the plan.

In June 2022, Dutch intelligence apparently received information from a source in Ukraine about plans for the attack, including details of the concept, and forwarded it to the CIA and German intelligence services. The United States also passed the information on to Germany. Berlin is said to have viewed the warning with scepticism, as it contained a projected date for the operation that had already passed.

The United States subsequently made active efforts to prevent an attack on Nord Stream, and a CIA representative in Kyiv raised the issue with the Ukrainian President's Office, demanding that the operation be called off.

In response to a request for comment, the CIA press service described the information from anonymous sources as "completely false".

In November 2025, Ukrainian citizen Serhii Kuznetsov was detained in Germany following his extradition from Italy. Kuznetsov is accused of involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage. He remains in pre-trial detention.

In October, a court in Warsaw refused Germany's request to hand over another suspect, Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlov, and ordered his release.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk welcomed the decision.