MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia’s ambassador to Washington said on Friday he did not believe Ukraine would attack the Nord Stream gas pipeline without the tacit consent of the United States, and said Russia intends to identify and punish those behind the attack.

On September 26, 2022, a pointed drop in pressure was recorded in pipelines under the Baltic Sea and seismologists detected explosions, sparking a wave of speculation about who sabotaged the multibillion-dollar project to transport Russian gas to Germany.

No one has taken responsibility for the explosions that occurred off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm and which damaged three of the system’s four strands.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that Ukraine’s top military commander approved an attack on gas pipelines in 2022, despite a warning from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not to carry out the attack.

“They are trying to shift all responsibility onto their Ukrainian puppets,” Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov said in a statement about Nord Stream. “We will strive to identify the real perpetrators of the bombing and punish them.”

Russia has repeatedly claimed that the attack on Nord Stream was carried out by the United States and Britain. Washington and London have denied the accusations.

The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reported that Ukraine, which has repeatedly denied any involvement, was behind the attack.

Ukrainian Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak denied on Thursday that his country was involved in the case and blamed Russia.

Antonov said that Ukraine would under no circumstances attack Nord Stream without Washington’s “blink of an eye.”

“In fact, we are talking about the hidden legitimization of terrorism, even when it comes to allied territory,” Antonov said.

The blasts occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Sweden and Denmark. Both countries have said the explosions were intentional, but have not yet publicly said who was responsible. Those countries and Germany are investigating.