Two years after the Nord Stream pipeline explosion, the investigation has yielded results. A spokesperson for the Polish Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on Wednesday, August 14th, that the German Chief Prosecutor had issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man suspected of bombing the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea.
According to Anna Adamiak, spokesperson for the Polish National Prosecutor’s Office, German authorities issued a European arrest warrant for the suspect, Volodymyr Z, in June. The arrest warrant is related to the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosion and the Ukrainian man had left Poland in early July.
The spokesperson mentioned that the reason the suspect was able to leave was because German authorities failed to include his name in the wanted criminal database, meaning Polish border guards had no knowledge or reason to detain Volodymyr Z.
Polish law prohibits disclosing the full name of suspects in criminal investigations.
German media and the Swedish newspaper, Expressen, were the first to disclose details of the arrest warrant. Reports identified the suspect as Volodymyr Zhuravlov, a 44-year-old.
Reports confirm that the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office has officially identified all three suspects, including Zhuravlov, as professional divers. The other two suspects, a man and a woman, are also Ukrainian citizens and jointly operate a diving company in Ukraine, with Zhuravlov having ties to the company. These three individuals are believed to have been aboard the “Andromeda” sailboat on September 6, 2022, heading to the Baltic Sea.
Seven months after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in September 2022, the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, worth billions of dollars and transporting natural gas from Russia to Germany, ruptured due to a series of explosions on the Baltic Sea seabed.
The two leak points of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline were located northeast of Bornholm Island in Denmark, which had ceased gas delivery to Europe in August 2022.
Just a few days before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Germany also scrapped plans to supply gas through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. However, both pipelines contained pressurized natural gas.
Following the explosions, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden launched investigations. Traces of explosives were found on several objects recovered from the explosion site in Sweden, confirming the explosions were intentional. The investigations in Sweden and Denmark concluded in February this year with no suspects identified.
Yet, German criminal police continued their investigation and crucial clues were obtained from a speed camera near the port where the “Andromeda” sailboat docked.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comments, and the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on the media reports.
According to Reuters, the German government stated that their relationship with Ukraine has not become tense due to the Nord Stream pipeline investigation.