Croatian Police Arrest Ukrainian Diver in Nord Stream Blast Probe
Croatian police have arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of taking part in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, a case that continues
Croatian police have arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of taking part in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, a case that continues to rattle Europe more than three years after the blasts. German prosecutors now want him extradited to face trial in Karlsruhe.
The man was detained on Wednesday in the Adriatic resort town of Pula, according to German prosecutors. They say he was a trained scuba diver and belonged to a group that planted explosives near Bornholm, the Danish island in the Baltic Sea, in September 2022. The undersea explosions damaged three of the four Nord Stream pipelines running under the sea between Russia and Germany. Serious damage. Fast-moving case.
Berlin moves for extradition
Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office said the suspect, identified only as Vladimir Z, “participated in the necessary dives” linked to the attack. Berlin will seek his extradition so he can face trial at the federal court in Karlsruhe.
Prosecutors say the man was part of a group that included another suspect, Serhiy K, who is being prosecuted separately. The arrest adds a fresh chapter to an investigation that has stretched across borders and remains politically sensitive because the pipelines carried Russian fossil gas to Germany before they were hit.
A probe still reaching across Europe
The Nord Stream blasts came in September 2022, only months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The attacks ruptured a major piece of energy infrastructure in the Baltic, and the fallout has echoed well beyond Germany and Russia.
The suspect is understood to be the same man arrested in Poland last year and later released after a Polish court ruled against extradition. That earlier case did not end the inquiry. Now German prosecutors are back with a new arrest in Croatia, and the next move is clear: an extradition request, then a courtroom in Karlsruhe if Berlin gets its way. Three pipelines were damaged. One arrest has followed another. And the case is still open.
