Last Monday, the Washington Post reported that the United States was aware of a plan by Ukraine to attack the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines in June 2022, three months before they were damaged in explosions under the Baltic Sea.
According to the Post, the information about the plan was one of the many classified documents shared online by Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira who was arrested in April for leaking classified military documents.
The Post obtained the leaked European intelligence report from one of Teixeira’s online friends from the platform Discord.
According to the Post, the intelligence report was based on information from someone in Ukraine and while the CIA was unable to corroborate the information, it passed on the details to intelligence services from several European countries including Germany in June 2022.
Multiple officials from one European country confirmed anonymously to the Post that the leaked intelligence report accurately reflected what the CIA told the country’s intelligence service.
When asked for comment on the report, the White House declined to answer questions on the leaked report or if the US attempted to prevent the mission from going forward.
According to Reuters, National Security Advisor spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that the investigations into the Nord Stream explosions are ongoing.
When asked about the Post’s report, Kirby said the “last thing” the White House wants to do is “get ahead of those investigations.”
The CIA did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the Washington Post report.
The underwater explosions which occurred in the Baltic Sea within the economic zones of Denmark and Sweden in September of last year ruptured a portion of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and the newly-constructed Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany.
Denmark and Sweden, along with Germany, have been investigating the blasts. While the countries maintain that the explosions were deliberate, they have not yet determined who was responsible.
