Second Suspect in Nord Stream Blasts Arrested in Croatia
German prosecutors say a second suspect in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline blasts has been arrested in Croatia and will be extradited.
German federal prosecutors announced on Wednesday that a second suspect in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions has been arrested in Croatia and will be extradited to Germany.
The suspect, identified only as Vladimir Z., a Ukrainian national, was taken into custody in the coastal city of Pula by local police acting on a European arrest warrant. Prosecutors described him as a trained scuba diver.
According to the statement, Vladimir Z. was part of a group led by Serhii K., a former Ukrainian army officer against whom criminal charges were filed in July. Serhii K. is accused of involvement in the blasts on behalf of Ukrainian state entities.
The group is alleged to have planted explosives on both the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022.
The explosions, widely described as sabotage by Russia and Western countries, damaged the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, a key route for Russian gas to Europe, and the Nord Stream 2 branch, which had not yet entered service. The incident occurred months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, during a period when Moscow had halted gas deliveries via Nord Stream 1, citing Western sanctions and technical issues, while Europe accused it of weaponising energy supplies.