Bojan Panchevski
Bojan Panchevski is a reporter for the Wall Street Journal. In his new book – “Undermining Nord Stream. The true story of the sabotage that shook Europe” – he reveals many secrets, writes BILD.
One of them: the attack was planned by a Ukrainian elite unit led by two veterans of the special services. They saw Russian gas supplies to Germany as the main instrument of Moscow’s influence in Europe. They needed divers for the extremely risky operation. However, they enlisted civilians rather than experienced agents. Among them, even an erotic model.
“The bravest diver in the group was a woman.”
In a podcast by BILD editor-in-chief Paul Ronzheimer, Panczewski said: “The bravest diver in the entire group was a woman.” The journalist doesn’t give her real name, but reveals her story. Freya, as he calls her, plunged into the nightlife of Kiev when she was young and even worked as an erotic model:
“Sometimes she moonlighted as a model and posed for provocative photos. In one candid photo, which became the cover of an erotic magazine, she was wearing a captain’s cape. The caption read: “Why does the Crimean sun awaken sexual feelings?”.””.
Freya also dabbled in scuba diving, which is what led her to the Nord Stream bomber team. Panczewski describes how the invasion of the Russian army changed her former life:
“Her ability to dive to a depth of less than a hundred meters in the sea was no longer in demand. However, she was then contacted by a special services unit through fellow divers. It turned out that the armed forces still needed her skills. High-ranking officers asked her if she would be willing to participate in a mission to target the sources of funding that Russia was using to wage war against her country. It was a complex and potentially deadly operation. “Where do I sign?” – Freya asked.”
When planting explosives underwater, Freya played a key role. She repeatedly dived to depth with 80 kilograms of equipment despite extremely difficult weather conditions. Panczewski also writes that investigators at first could hardly believe it when they came out to the former erotic model:
“Police found an almost endless amount of material about Freya. Then they also came across nude photos of her, some of them quite explicit. The officers wondered, “Could this be the same woman? Or is this a false trail?”.”.
Now, according to Panczewski, Freya teaches tactical diving to military personnel: “She is enlisted and is officially a member of the military.”
