According to research by “RTL”, the traces of the blasting of the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022 lead to Russia. For German investigators, the sailing yacht “Andromeda” plays a role in the explosions, as traces of explosives were found on the ship. A key figure behind the rental of the boat is currently in Russia and holds the Russian passport.

Photos showed the woman a few weeks ago in front of the football stadium in Krasnodar. According to the Polish commercial register, the woman is the majority owner of the company that rented the Andromeda. So far it was said that the woman came from Ukraine.

For the CDU politician Roderich Kiesewetter it is difficult to imagine that a key person behind the attacks is moving freely in Russia today if there were no Russian involvement. “If it hadn’t been a Russian or if it hadn’t been a Russian influence operation, then this woman would have been arrested long ago because she intensively damaged and destroyed Russian property,” says the CDU politician, who saw the “RTL” research.

Key Russian figure apparently organized elections in Crimea

According to the report, excerpts from Russian population registers, the Russian passport, the stored data for a Russian cell phone number and current photos from Russia clearly prove the Russian origin of the key person. In addition, further research is said to show that she helped organize elections for Russia in the annexed Crimea after 2014. When “RTL” called her, she confirmed that she was currently in Russia. For security politician Kiesewetter it is clear: “Russia was involved in this attack.”

For the CDU politician, the new findings must have direct consequences for German criminal investigators. “I hope that the Attorney General investigates in these directions,” said Kiesewetter. “That has to be dealt with legally.” The Attorney General did not want to comment on the research in the direction of Russia when asked. It was only stated that “as part of the ongoing investigations, all indications for clarifying the facts of the case will be followed up”.

The last track led to Ukraine

The question of who is responsible for the explosions on the Nord Stream lines has been occupying investigators in several countries for nine months now, fueling media reports and theories – in a wide variety of directions. On September 26, 2022, explosions were registered near the Danish island of Bornholm. A little later, four leaks were discovered in three of the four lines.

The traces of “Andromeda” first led to the Ukraine. The report said the yacht was rented by a Polish-based company owned by two Ukrainians. According to the public prosecutor’s office in Gdansk, the Polish investigations indicated that the yacht had actually sailed to Poland with six people and had called at a port. However, there is no direct evidence that the people on the Andromeda were involved in the damage to the Nord Stream pipelines.

An article in the Washington Post recently caused a stir, according to which the US government had been informed by a European secret service about a plan by the Ukrainian military three months before the explosions. Accordingly, a secret attack on the pipelines should be carried out with the help of divers. Even if the USA could not initially independently confirm the reports, the information was shared with the secret services of Germany and other countries. The White House did not comment on the report.