Second Ukrainian national arrested over 2022 Nord Stream pipeline blast

What the report says

German prosecutors said a second Ukrainian suspect linked to the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions has been arrested in Croatia and is expected to be extradited to Germany. Al Jazeera, citing the German federal prosecutor’s office and wire service reporting, identified the man as Vladimir Z and said he was detained in the city of Pula under a European arrest warrant.

The arrest follows an earlier case involving Serhii K, a former Ukrainian army officer who was detained in Italy and transferred to Germany. German prosecutors have accused Serhii K of coordinating the operation and said Vladimir Z was a trained scuba diver who belonged to the wider group alleged to have planted explosives on Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 near the Danish island of Bornholm. The Ukrainian authorities have said they did not have enough information to respond in detail to the German claims.

The blasts in September 2022 damaged major undersea gas pipelines that had carried Russian gas to Europe. Germany has treated the case as one within its jurisdiction because the pipelines connect to German territory and the damage affected its energy security. German officials welcomed the Croatian arrest as a sign that the investigation is advancing.

In general terms, the Nord Stream explosions have remained a major point of dispute between Russia, Western governments and Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. German prosecutors say the alleged aim was to stop gas deliveries and prevent revenue from supporting Russia’s war effort.