A Ukrainian individual was apprehended in Croatia on Wednesday in connection with underwater blasts that inflicted damage on the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany in 2022, as announced by Germany’s federal prosecutor.
The arrested man, identified as Vladimir Z., was taken into custody in Pula, Croatia, by local law enforcement executing a European warrant. Prosecutors stated that Vladimir Z., a proficient scuba diver, was part of a group that planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022. He is suspected of participating in causing explosions, engaging in anti-constitutional sabotage, and destroying buildings and structures.
The arrest of Vladimir Z. was commended by the German government, emphasizing the importance of clarifying the pipeline bombings. In a related case, German federal prosecutors recently pressed charges against a former Ukrainian army officer named Serhii K. for his involvement in the same explosions. Serhii K. was arrested in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany in November, facing charges related to explosion-causing activities, property damage, disruption of public services, and complicity in war crimes by attacking civilian objects.
German authorities alleged that Serhii K. and others departed from the port of Rostock on a yacht rented from a German company. Germany intends to pursue the extradition of the suspect, despite facing resistance from Poland in a similar extradition request involving a man identified as Volodymyr Zhuravlov, believed to be the same individual.
Poland’s opposition to the Nord Stream pipelines, viewing them as a Russian strategy to leverage energy resources across Europe, has been evident. The disruptions to the pipelines exacerbated tensions amid European efforts to reduce reliance on Russian energy sources following the Ukrainian conflict. The explosions damaged both the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, previously a vital route for Russian natural gas to Germany, and the incomplete Nord Stream 2 certification process suspended by Germany before the Russian invasion.
Accusations by Russia claiming U.S. involvement in the explosions have been denied by Washington, which, along with some allies, had criticized the pipelines for increasing Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. The Ukrainian government has also refuted any involvement in the sabotage plot.