Following the explosions on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea on September 26, 2022, investigators are making new headway with two leads pointing to Ukraine, as reported by Switzerland’s Tages-Anzeiger and Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The first of these tracks centers on the company Feeria Lwowa, allegedly a travel agency with a modest office located in a gray five-story building on Juliana Smulikowskiego Street, in Warsaw’s trendy Powisle district.
As reported by Tages-Anzeiger, German investigators have shown significant interest in this address, linking it to the pipeline explosions.
Their research suggests Feeria Lwowa is potentially a shell company and hints at connections to Ukraine.
Registered in the Polish commercial register to the modest Warsaw address, Feeria Lwowa came to attention due to its suspicious characteristics.
“No employees, no … offices, no website, no one can be reached personally: sounds suspiciously like a shell company,” stated Tages-Anzeiger.
It was founded in 2016 by two Ukrainians and is currently registered to a 32-year-old woman from Russian-occupied Crimea.
However, she apparently changed her name and acquired Russian citizenship, and on a phone call, claimed ignorance about Feeria Lwowa’s ownership.
The same newspaper also reported a 55-year-old Ukrainian woman, seen as the front for the shell company, has held the position of president since September 2021.
She also represents other companies in Poland and Ukraine, suggesting a potential pattern of shell company operation, a common tool used by intelligence services to finance and obscure covert operations.
Feeria Lwowa also leased the Andromeda, a sailing yacht, from the German company Mola Yachting based in Rügen, Germany’s largest island located in the Baltic Sea.
The yacht started from Hohe Düne north of Rostock, and investigators later found remains of an explosive onboard, reportedly “military usable and suitable for underwater use.”
Investigators, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung, are looking into a 26-year-old Ukrainian man who was part of the yacht’s crew.
He is suspected to be a member of the Ukrainian armed forces and hails from a town southeast of Kiev.
His identity has not been fully confirmed.
His link to the case, however, has heightened the suspicion of potential state involvement in the attacks, despite no conclusive evidence supporting this claim yet.
The Ukrainian government and its military intelligence have not responded to inquiries about potential involvement.
Meanwhile, all other countries, including Russia, Poland, and the United States, have denied any responsibility for the Nord Stream attacks.
The second lead also points to Ukraine, specifically to individuals who identified themselves with fake Bulgarian and Romanian passports when renting the Andromeda.
One of the passport names, “Stefan Marcu,” is a real person in Romania who was reportedly in his home country at the time of the attack.
Despite the many open questions remaining in the case, investigators are reportedly certain that the trials have not been consciously laid to mislead.
According to Tages-Anzeiger, the Federal Public Prosecutor has remained largely silent on the case, only stating that they cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.
Both newspapers stressed that even if the leads are confirmed, it does not necessarily imply the Ukrainian government’s involvement in or knowledge of the attacks.
These investigations are ongoing and further updates are expected.
