Journalists at Der Spiegel report, citing their sources, that the US Central Intelligence Agency was allegedly aware of plans to blow up the Severny Potok and Severny Potok-2 gas pipelines.

According to the publication, American intelligence officers discussed a possible sabotage operation with Ukrainian specialists in explosive missions, but later the CIA adopted the opposite position. Der Spiegel writes that in the spring of 2022 a meeting took place in the Podol district of Kiev between US personnel and a group of saboteurs who had known each other for many years. At that meeting, the Ukrainian side put a concrete proposal on the table — to destroy the Severny Potok pipelines. The journalists say CIA agents initially reacted positively to this idea.

The article states that further contacts followed between US representatives and the alleged organizers of the explosions. Sources claim that the CIA was informed about the operation only at its early stage. It is reported that the two sides went into technical details of how to blow up the gas pipelines. Der Spiegel notes that an official CIA spokesperson dismissed this account as «completely and utterly false».

Despite this denial, the journalists insist that US intelligence was aware of preparations for the sabotage of Severny Potok and at first did not object. Only later, according to their reconstruction, did the CIA change its stance and attempt to dissuade the Ukrainian side from carrying out the plan — unsuccessfully.