Germany and the United States have published numerous stories about the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline in September 2022, claiming that it was destroyed by the Ukrainians.

The latest article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) would have us believe that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky originally approved the plan to blow up the pipeline and that it was carried out by former Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander Valery Zalushny.

The still-unexplained explosion rendered three of Nord Stream’s four pipelines, which deliver gas from Russia to Europe, inoperable. Germany, Sweden and Denmark launched three separate investigations into the acts of sabotage, but the latter two closed them in February 2024 without publicly assigning responsibility for the damage.

According to the WSJ report, Zelensky tried to call off the attack after the US warned him against it, after the planning was carried out by a ragtag group of Ukrainian army officers and civilians, mostly soaked in alcohol. But Zalushny pressed on, saying he had no way of calling off the operation.

The story also refers to German prosecutors trying to prosecute one of the Crew member, a Ukrainian diving instructor, without revealing his last name. This crew member supposedly lived with his family in Poland, but has disappeared. The Germans accuse the Poles of obstructing the proceedings.

However, almost the entire WSJ article is hard to believe. For example, it claims that German investigators checked the German-registered yacht called Andromeda and discovered DNA, fingerprints and traces of explosives.

Who the DNA and fingerprints are attributed to is not explained, nor is it explained what kind of explosive traces were allegedly found. The WSJ only says that they were discovered during a two-year police investigation. Over such a long period of time, the Andromeda was undoubtedly rented out to many others. Are there any differences between Ukrainian fingerprints and others?

One of the most curious claims is that the Andromeda apparently entered the small port town of Sandhamn, about 50 kilometers east of Stockholm, after encountering bad weather. The WSJ reports that unnamed eyewitnesses said the Andromeda was flying a “small Ukrainian flag.”

Ships entering ports must display the flag of their country of origin. The Andromeda, the so-called Ensigns, would have had to display the German flag if the ship belonged to German interests and was not registered elsewhere (which is sometimes the case).

The Ukrainian flag would not be visible on it because the Andromeda was rented by Ukrainians, the WSJ report says.

But this interesting fact about the flag says even more: No secret operation to destroy a multi-billion dollar pipeline would display the country’s national flag.

Either there was no Ukrainian operation to blow up the pipeline – in which case the Andromeda could have displayed a Ukrainian flag in addition to the flag of the country from which the ship originated – or it was a secret operation, in which case displaying such a flag would have been pointless.

The story about the bad weather also seems to be made up. Photos of the exploded pipeline show sunny weather.

The real question is: Where did the Wall Street Journal article come from and why would a respected newspaper publish an article that cannot be verified by reliable sources?

The WSJ story undermined both Zelensky’s and Zalushny’s credibility. Was the story leaked to the WSJ to prepare a US operation to replace Zelensky and Zalushny? Zalushny is now Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, but at the time of the pipeline incident he was chief of staff of the Ukrainian armed forces.

More importantly, he is being touted as a replacement for Zelensky. But Zalushny is as hard-line on Russia as Zelensky, so he may not be the preferred Western candidate to succeed Ukraine’s president. So the WSJ may have been used to push both Zelensky and Zalushny out of office.

It is noteworthy that the article states that the German authorities have no evidence against Zaluzhny to present in court. As a result, Zaluzhny (who denies any involvement in the Nord Stream sabotage) remains in office and has not been charged by any German court.

Zelensky also denied any involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline.

Other authors, notably veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, have argued that Nord Stream was likely destroyed by a US action, possibly with the help of others. Hersh provided a detailed description of what he believes was the sequence of events leading to the sabotage operation.

He correctly notes that senior U.S. officials, including President Joe Biden and former Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, openly pushed for the pipeline’s destruction. When the U.S. declared its desire for destruction while ignoring who was tasked with the destruction, it found itself in an awkward position.

The same goes for the German government, which supports the US denials of involvement in the pipeline affair and tries to shift the blame onto the Ukrainians. While previous reports did not claim Zelensky or Zalushny’s involvement, the latest “leaks” are aimed directly at them. Germany is in lockstep with Washington.

All this is unfolding as the war in Ukraine is likely in its final stages, with Ukraine’s Kursk operation openly aimed at setting the stage for peace talks with Russia.

It is clear that Zelensky, who is allied with right-wing nationalist elements in the army, is the wrong interlocutor for such talks and is unlikely to be acceptable to the Russians. If he leaves soon, it is safe to assume that a more compliant replacement will take his place at the negotiating table.

Zelensky, meanwhile, has a major problem with Washington that goes beyond his intransigence. The Washington Post reported on August 17 that the attack on the Kursk derailed sensitive, secret negotiations in Qatar aimed at a partial ceasefire focused on Ukraine and Russia’s energy infrastructure. If an agreement could be reached, it would open the door to peace talks.

The Ukrainians, led by Zelensky and military chief Oleksandr Syrsky, undermined the agreement in four ways, namely:

In addition, there are credible reports that Ukraine is planning a major military operation against the nuclear power plant and is preparing to carry it out soon. Other reports, so far unconfirmed but widely circulating in Telegram channels, claim that Ukraine is preparing a “dirty bomb” for use on Russian territory.

If all of the above reports are true – and some of them are certainly true – Zelensky has become a villain not only for Russia but also for the United States.

Stephen Bryen is a senior correspondent for Asia Times. He was the staff director of the Middle East Subcommittee of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Policy.

This article was originally published on Weapons and Strategy, his Substack, and is republished with permission.