Berlin and Kyiv

Potential diplomatic fallout from Nord Stream allegations

Kyiv certainly had a motive to cut off a key source of its enemy's future war funding. It also had a reason to conceal its state involvement: Germany was and is one of Ukraine's strongest supporters in Europe, and Kyiv wouldn't have wanted to risk antagonizing its backers in Berlin with an attack on a key potential source of German energy.

Ukraine had a wartime motive to disrupt prospective Russian gas revenue but would have sought to conceal state involvement to avoid antagonizing Germany, a major supporter.