The Nord Stream explosion at the bottom of the Baltic Sea in 2022 continues to have new details. On September 30, Polish prosecutors announced the arrest of a Ukrainian national under a German wanted notice, suspected of directly participating in a group of divers who planted mines in a gas pipeline system from Russia to Germany.
This is the second Nord Stream sabotage suspect with Ukrainian nationality to be arrested in just two months, complicating the controversial case.
The arrested person was identified as Volodymyr Z., who was restrained by police in the town of Pruzhkow, Central Poland. Earlier in August, another Ukrainian citizen, Serhii K., was arrested in Italy and the Rome court approved extradition to Germany, although he is still appealing.
According to Polish and German media, Volodymyr Z. is a professional diver suspected of participating in many dives to the bottom of the Baltic Sea to store explosives to sabotage Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 near Bornholm Island, Denmark.
German prosecutors said the suspect and his accomplices rented a yacht departing from the port of Rostock (Germany), using fake documents through intermediaries to conceal the goods.
Lawyer Tymoteusz Paprocki, representative of Volodymyr Z., confirmed the arrest and affirmed that he would defend his customer: No Ukrainian can be considered a criminal for sabotage Nord Stream, because the profits from this pipeline are used to fund the Russian conflict.
The Nord Stream explosion on September 26, 2022 damaged three of the four gas pipelines, paralyzing Russian gas supplies to Europe. At that time, many hypotheses were put forward, from Russia's self-sabotage to put pressure, to the West's ability to act to prevent Moscow from using gas as "political weapons".
However, the German investigation focused on a group of six Ukrainian nationals, including five men and one woman, suspected of being behind the sabotage operation. If this accusation is consolidated, Berlin will fall into a very difficult situation: On the one hand, Germany is a key ally providing weapons and finance to Ukraine; on the other hand, the prosecution of Ukrainian citizens could cause tensions in bilateral relations and internal division of the West.
On September 30, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed: "We hope Germany will end the investigation in a transparent manner, because the evidence clearly shows that Ukraine is involved."
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly denied it, asserting that the Ukrainian government does not know anything and is not participating in any plan to sabotage the gas pipeline.
If extradited, Volodymyr Z. will have to appear in federal court in Karlsruhe (Germany). However, experts say that with its complex diplomatic nature and far-reaching political influence, the Nord Stream case is unlikely to end any time soon. Therefore, the arrest of the second Ukrainian suspect contributed to the drama.
