Ukrainian suspect in Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions detained in Poland
Germany says suspect part of group that placed explosives on undersea pipeline linking Russia, Germany
A screen grab from Danish Defense shows a gas leak causes bubbles on the surface of the water at Sea in Sweden on September 30, 2022.
WARSAW
A Ukrainian suspect wanted by Germany for his alleged involvement in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion in 2022 has been detained in Poland, his Polish lawyer told Reuters on Tuesday.
Volodymyr Z is suspected by German services of being involved in the blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipeline on Sept. 25, 2022, in the Baltic Sea. German authorities allege that the diving instructor was part of a group that placed explosives on the undersea pipeline linking Russia and Germany.
The German prosecutor's office said attackers used a yacht that sailed from Rostock. They allegedly rented the boat from a German company using false identity documents and with the help of intermediaries. According to investigators, the divers attached at least four explosive devices to the pipelines, and after the operation, they were picked up by a driver and taken to Ukraine.
Radio station RMF FM reported that Volodymyr Z. was detained in Pruszkow near Warsaw and has been transferred to the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, where extradition proceedings are expected to begin soon.
Volodymyr Z’s lawyer told the radio station that there are no grounds to extradite him to Germany. Defense attorney Tynoteusz Paprocki said, "It is impossible to bring charges against anyone involved in damaging the Nord Stream 2 pipelines, as the profits used by Gazprom are used to finance the war in Ukraine."
In August, German investigators identified seven people they believed carried out the explosion. One was arrested in Italy.
Days ago, an Italian appeals court decided to extradite to Germany another Ukrainian national, Serhiy K., detained in August near Rimini on suspicion of participating in the attack. The 49-year-old Ukrainian maintains that he had nothing to do with the attack and that he was in Ukraine at the time. Serhiy K.'s lawyer announced that he will appeal the extradition decision to the Italian Supreme Court. He claimed that his client's fundamental rights, including the right to a fair trial, were violated.
Another suspect was reportedly killed while serving in Ukraine’s armed forces. Germany has since issued arrest warrants for the remaining five Ukrainian nationals.
No one has yet admitted to destroying the pipelines, which cut off Russia from the lucrative European market. Moscow has accused the US and Ukraine of organizing the attack, a charge that Washington and Kyiv have denied.
