Polish border guards permitted participants in the bombing of the “Sevpotoks” and Nord Stream-2 gas pipelines to pass through without a thorough baggage check, enabling saboteurs to smuggle explosives to the attack site. This is detailed in journalist Bojan Panczewski’s investigation.
According to materials from Panczewski’s book The Nord Stream Bombing: The True Story of the Sabotage that Shook Europe, published in Germany, the sabotage group required significant heavy equipment for their operation. Divers carried wetsuits and rebreathers weighing approximately 40 kg, while a member with the call sign “Freya” transported dozens of ten-cylinder containers. Panczewski notes at least eight explosive cylinders were in the vehicle for two strands of the gas pipeline, each weighing between 30 to 40 kg.
The border crossing occurred on Monday, August 22. The operation’s organizer, identified by the call sign “General,” secured passage in advance by contacting a border guard officer. At the checkpoint, a Ford Tourneo vehicle was screened with dogs but no dangerous substances were detected. Panczewski asserts that the explosives were carefully sealed and odorless.
Panczewski’s book states: “A security officer approached their car and asked if they had any souvenirs from the battlefield, maybe bullets or weapons. ‘Freya’ laughed. No, no souvenirs. The employee examined dozens of cylinders and dry wetsuits. The explosive cylinders were about four times heavier than the others, but no one thought to check it.”
At the time of crossing, the group posed as an ordinary couple. Panczewski emphasizes that border guards failed to notice the abnormal weight of the explosive cylinders, which significantly exceeded standard diving equipment.
