An Arrest in Pula
Croatian police have arrested a Ukrainian national identified as Vladimir Z., operating under a European arrest warrant issued by Berlin, over his suspected involvement in the September 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions.
The arrest, confirmed by the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, marks the latest development in an ongoing international investigation into the sabotage that severely damaged the critical energy infrastructure carrying Russian natural gas to Germany. According to German authorities, the suspect is a trained scuba diver accused of planting explosives as part of a clandestine cell that utilized forged documents to charter a sailing yacht from Rostock, Germany, to the waters surrounding the Danish island of Bornholm. Investigators allege the team used commercial diving gear to affix military-grade charges to the pipelines at a depth of approximately 100 meters.
The Escape Through Poland
The apprehension in the Croatian city of Pula follows a complicated trail of previous legal actions across Europe. According to Der Spiegel, Vladimir Zhuravlyov had been living in Poland in 2024 before fleeing across the border in a vehicle belonging to the Ukrainian military attaché ahead of an impending arrest.
A Warsaw Court Rejects Extradition
He subsequently returned to Poland and was detained there in September 2025. However, in October 2025, a Warsaw court rejected Berlin’s extradition request, ruling that destroying critical infrastructure during an active war constitutes a military action rather than criminal sabotage. Croatian authorities now hold the suspect pending expected extradition to Germany.
The September 2022 Blasts
The September 2022 blasts ruptured three of the four lines making up the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipeline systems. Nord Stream 2 had not yet entered commercial service when the blasts occurred, while Nord Stream 1 had experienced repeated delivery reductions and suspensions by Moscow following the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.
German prosecutors maintain that the sabotage operation was designed to permanently cut off gas deliveries and strip Moscow of natural gas revenues used to fund military operations.
Charges and Counterclaims
German authorities have identified another key suspect in the conspiracy: Sergey K., named by media outlets as former Ukrainian special forces member Sergey Kuznetsov. According to the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office, Kuznetsov was arrested in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany three months later. Prosecutors formally charged Kuznetsov in June with war crimes for knowingly targeting civilian infrastructure, with his trial scheduled to begin this fall.
Meanwhile, Moscow has consistently rejected the narrative of a rogue team of Ukrainian divers, characterizing the theory as a fantasy. Russian officials argue that an operation of such technical complexity within NATO-controlled waters could not have been executed by a small group without direct state assistance or the involvement of Western intelligence. Kyiv has continually denied any state involvement in the pipeline attacks, while European nations have previously accused Russia of weaponizing energy supplies.
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