Polish authorities have detained a Ukrainian man wanted by Germany on suspicion of involvement in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The suspect, identified as Volodymyr Z., was arrested in the town of Pruszków near Warsaw following a European Arrest Warrant issued by German prosecutors, according to the Polish outlet RMF24.pl, which first reported the story.
The man was brought before the Warsaw District Prosecutor’s Office, where formal proceedings are expected to begin. His lawyer, Tymoteusz Paprocki, confirmed the arrest and said that the defense would take an active role in the case. “Considering the war in Ukraine and the fact that the owner of this infrastructure is a Russian company that directly finances the war, it is difficult to consider such actions as a crime,” Paprocki told the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
German investigators allege that Volodymyr Z., a trained diving instructor, took part in a mission in September 2022 to plant explosives on the Nord Stream pipelines. According to prosecutors, he and his associates departed from Rostock on a yacht hired under false documents, dove to a depth of around 80 meters in the Baltic Sea, and attached charges to the gas conduits. After the operation, the team allegedly returned to Ukraine with the help of accomplices.
The attacks on September 26, 2022 destroyed three of the four Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines that carried Russian gas to Germany. The blasts came just months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, dramatically altering Europe’s energy landscape. No group or state has claimed responsibility. Moscow has accused the United States and Ukraine of orchestrating the attack, accusations firmly denied by both Washington and Kyiv.
Extradition proceedings against the suspect are expected to begin soon. The case once again draws attention to one of the most high-profile and geopolitically sensitive acts of sabotage in Europe in recent decades, an incident that severed Russia’s direct energy link to its most important European market.
