Ukrainian suspect arrested in Nord Stream sabotage case

A Ukrainian man accused of helping plant explosives on the Nord Stream gas pipelines has been arrested in Croatia, giving German investigators a second suspect in a case that has shadowed relations between Kyiv and Berlin since the 2022 blasts.

German prosecutors identified the suspect as Vladimir Z, a trained scuba diver. The BBC reported that he is understood to be Volodymyr Zhuravlyov. Prosecutors said Croatian police arrested him in the city of Pula on a European arrest warrant, and German authorities are seeking to bring him to Germany.

“The suspect participated in the necessary dives” for the sabotage, German prosecutors alleged, according to the BBC. After extradition, they said, he is expected to be brought before an investigating judge to face charges including causing explosions and sabotage.

Germany’s Ministry of Justice welcomed the arrest. “We’re simply glad that the federal prosecutor’s office is making progress in these investigations, because it’s important that the bombing of the pipelines be clarified as well,” ministry spokesman Nicholas Limmer told reporters in Berlin, according to Al Jazeera.

The explosions in September 2022 damaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the Danish Baltic Sea island of Bornholm, months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia and Western countries have described the blasts as sabotage.

Nord Stream 1 was an important route for Russian gas exports to Europe, although Moscow had recently halted gas deliveries through it at the time, citing Western sanctions and technical issues. Europe accused Russia of weaponising energy supplies. Nord Stream 2, built to carry more Russian gas to Germany, had not yet entered service.

German prosecutors allege Vladimir Z was part of a team led by former Ukrainian military officer Serhiy Kuznetsov, also identified by Al Jazeera as Serhii K. Prosecutors say the group used a yacht rented at Rostock in Germany to carry out the operation and plant explosives on the pipelines.

Kuznetsov was arrested in Italy in August 2025 and later transferred to Germany, where he is set to face trial. Al Jazeera reported that prosecutors charged him in July with orchestrating the blasts while acting on behalf of Ukrainian state entities. He has denied involvement. The BBC reported that he appeared before a court in Hamburg in June.

The BBC reported that Zhuravlyov had previously been arrested in Poland in 2025 in connection with the same undersea plot, but a Polish judge refused a German extradition request. The judge argued that if Ukraine was responsible for the attack, it was a “just” act. Zhuravlyov was released, prompting surprise in the courtroom and a smile from the man in the dock, the BBC reported.

Officials in Kyiv have repeatedly denied any role in the blasts. Al Jazeera reported that Ukrainian authorities have said they did not have enough information to respond in detail to the German allegations.

The pipeline project had long drawn opposition from Poland, Ukraine and the United States. Poland argued that Nord Stream made Germany too dependent on Moscow and deprived Poland of transit fees for Russian gas. Al Jazeera reported that German prosecutors say the alleged attack was intended to permanently halt gas deliveries through the pipelines and prevent Russia from using natural gas revenue to finance its war effort.

German courts have treated the case as within their jurisdiction because the damaged pipelines end in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and their loss affected Germany’s energy security and internal safety, Al Jazeera reported.