Germany's former intelligence chief has accused Ukraine and Poland for planning and executing the sabotage attack on Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022.
Hanning, who headed the BND between 1998 and 2005, told local media that such a big sabotage attack could not be the work of a diving instructor and his team only, and claimed that Polish and Ukrainian secret services must have been involved.
"According to the results of German investigation, it was carried out by a Ukrainian team, and when we look at the map, we can understand that this can only be possible with support from Poland," he told Die Welt media group.
Hanning argued that the Ukrainian sabotage team must have received logistical support from Polish authorities while traveling and bringing equipment and explosives to the Baltic Sea.
"And such decisions are not made at our level, they are decisions made at the highest political level, and I believe that there was an agreement between (Ukrainian) President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy and (Polish) President (Andrzej) Duda to carry out this attack," he said.
His remarks came after local media reported that German prosecutors have identified a Ukrainian diving instructor as a key suspect in the Nord Stream sabotage attack, but efforts to apprehend him have been unsuccessful as Polish authorities have been reluctant to cooperate with their German counterparts.
German authorities issued a European arrest warrant against Wolodymyr Z., a diving instructor, in June after finding out that the suspect was residing in a town in Poland, but he could not be arrested and fled the country, apparently after he was tipped off about the investigation against him.
According to the German prosecutors, the yacht "Andromeda" used in the operation was rented by a company based in Poland, which was apparently owned by two Ukrainians.
The group that carried out the sabotage attack is believed to have consisted of two divers, two assistants, one captain, and a medic.
The sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022 was an unprecedented attack, and caused extensive damage to the pipelines connecting Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea.
