Croatia detains second Ukrainian suspected of blowing up of “Nord Stream”. Poland previously refused his extradition

The second suspect in the “Nord Stream” bombing was detained in Croatia — Ukrainian diver Volodymyr Zh. (probably Volodymyr Zhuravlyov).

This was reported by the German prosecutorʼs office.

The Ukrainian was detained on the morning of August 19 in the Croatian city of Pula on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued on June 3, 2024.

According to the German investigation, he was one of the divers who installed explosives on the “Nord Stream 1” and “Nord Stream 2” gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in 2022. The Ukrainian is suspected, in particular, of jointly causing the explosion, unconstitutional sabotage, and the destruction of structures.

After extradition from Croatia, Zhuravlyov is to be brought to the Federal Court of Germany.

Zhuravlyov was already detained in Poland in September 2025, but in October a Polish court refused to extradite him to Germany. The court decided that Germany had provided insufficient evidence and that the act Zhuravlyov is accused of “was committed in the context of the criminal and genocidal war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine since 2014”.

“Nord Stream” explosions

On September 26, 2022, three explosions occurred on the “Nord Stream 1” and “Nord Stream 2” pipelines, which run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, causing massive gas leaks. Only one of the four strands of the pipeline remained intact.

On August 26, 2025, German investigators issued arrest warrants for six Ukrainians suspected of involvement in the bombing. The main suspect in the case is Ukrainian Serhiy Kuznetsov, believed to be the commander of the group that blew up the gas pipelines. He denies the charges.

In August 2025, he was detained in Italy, and in November he was extradited to Germany and arrested there. On July 1, 2026, German prosecutors formally indicted Kuznetsov, and he is scheduled to stand trial in Hamburg, Germany, at the end of October.

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