This aerial photo released by the Danish Ministry of Defense on Sept. 27, 2022 shows the Nord Stream gas pipeline leak site. [Photo/Danish
Defense Ministry]
A Danish military analyst on Wednesday called into question the claim made by U.S. and German media that a non-state actor was responsible for last September's Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions.
"It is a demanding operation to get down and dive at that depth and place so much explosive, so it would be a bit ridiculous to me if someone did it from a rented yacht," Danish news agency Ritzau quoted Anders Puck Nielsen from the Defense Academy as saying.
According to Nielsen, the latest theory is a timely and "reasonable solution" for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
"If you look at it politically, it suits the USA, NATO and Ukraine very well if you can point to a non-state actor as some kind of terrorist organization or saboteurs. It takes the focus away from themselves and Russia," Nielsen told Ritzau.
The New York Times has cited new intelligence suggesting that a pro-Ukrainian group carried out the attack on the pipelines that run under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.
However, the paper failed to identify a source for the claim that a rented yacht was used to perpetrate the act.
