Croatia Detains Ukrainian Man Sought by Germany Over Nord Stream Blasts

A Croatian judge has ordered the detention of a Ukrainian man wanted by German authorities in connection with the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The decision was announced on Thursday, a day after the suspect was arrested in the northern coastal town of Pula under a European arrest warrant.

Prosecutors questioned the man on Thursday and requested his detention while extradition proceedings move forward, according to state broadcaster HRT. His lawyer, Matija Milos, said an appeal against the detention order would be filed. The timeline for the extradition process in Croatia remains unclear.

German prosecutors have identified the suspect only as Vladimir Z., describing him as a trained scuba diver linked to a group that planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm. The blasts on September 26, 2022, ruptured the pipelines, which were built to transport Russian gas to Germany.

The incident escalated tensions during the Russia-Ukraine war, as European nations sought to reduce their reliance on Russian energy following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. German investigators later pointed to suspected Ukrainian involvement, though some Western officials initially suspected Russia. Moscow has accused Washington of staging the explosions, a claim the U.S. has denied.

A spokesperson for the German prosecutor's office confirmed that Vladimir Z. is the same man arrested in Poland last year but released after a Polish court refused his extradition. Polish authorities identified him as Volodymyr Zhuravlov. Poland has long opposed the Nord Stream project, viewing it as a tool for Russian influence in Europe.

Last month, German federal prosecutors filed charges against a former Ukrainian army officer, Serhii K., in connection with the same attacks. He was detained in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany in November. The suspects allegedly used a yacht rented from a German company with forged documents, departing from the port of Rostock.

The explosions damaged Nord Stream 1, which had been Russia's main gas supply route to Germany until Moscow halted supplies in August 2022. Nord Stream 2, which never became operational after Germany suspended its certification, was also damaged.