Poland May Have Been Used as Operating Base for Nord Stream Sabotage - Report

In early March, German magazine Der Spiegel disclosed details regarding the yacht allegedly linked to the sabotage on the Nord Stream pipelines. A Bavaria Cruiser 50 sailing yacht named Andromeda was rented by unknown people, with the e-mail used to rent it hinting at connections to Ukraine, the report added.

Investigators are trying to figure out why the yacht that was used to blow up gas pipelines entered Polish waters, the report said. The investigation also showed that Poland could be the center of logistics and financing of the sabotage attack, the newspaper added.

German investigators reconstructed Andromeda's entire two-week voyage and found that she deviated from her route in order to enter Polish waters, the report read.

The previously unreported findings were combined with data from the Andromeda's radio and navigation equipment, as well as satellite and mobile phones and Gmail accounts used by the culprits, and DNA samples left on board, according to the report, which added that Germany tried to match the found DNA samples to at least one Ukrainian soldier.

At the same time, Poland, which is conducting its own investigation, has been trying for months to find out what Berlin is investigating, the newspaper reported.

A senior Polish national security official told the news outlet the country's authorities were not involved in the attacks, however, cannot exclude the participation of some private Polish entity in the operation.

"I can assure you that no Polish institution is involved in this story, and this is not a state case," the official told the newspaper, adding "I cannot exclude that some Polish company or whatever is involved in this case."

Other polish officials said that they doubted the Andromeda was involved in the destruction of the pipelines, according to the report.

The Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines - built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany - were hit by explosions last September. The incident is considered to have been a deliberate attack on Europe's energy infrastructure and remains under investigation by Denmark, Germany and Sweden, as well as separately by Russia, since the European nations have refused to share any of their findings.

Moscow noted that the US and Britain are behind the incident, since London and Washington were among the staunchest opponents of the project, calling the pipeline "a threat" to Europe.