German Federal Prosecutor Jens Rommel has issued the first arrest warrant in the case of blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipelines — Ukrainian Volodymyr Z. is wanted.
German TV channel ARD, newspapers Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit learned about it.
Two more citizens of Ukraine were suspected in the case, who, according to the investigation, took part in the detonations, presumably as divers — attaching explosives to gas pipelines. All three traveled the Baltic Sea on the German sailing yacht Andromeda in September 2022.
According to ARD, SZ and Die Zeit, German investigators assume that Volodymyr Z.ʼs last known place of residence was in a city west of Warsaw. Whether he has now returned to Ukraine is unknown. German prosecutors appealed to Polish authorities with a European arrest warrant, hoping that the suspect could be arrested.
However, Poland did not arrest Volodymyr. The rules of the European Arrest Warrant, which Germany and Poland consider binding, oblige suspects to be arrested within 60 days without further investigation by Poland. This term has expired.
In a telephone conversation with journalists, Volodymyr Z. was surprised by such an accusation and denied involvement in the attack on the Nord Stream.
The driver of the white van, who was seen on the German island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, could play a key role in the warrant for Volodymyrʼs arrest. Presumably, the car was used to transport diving equipment. Sources of journalists say that the driver was picking up several Ukrainians. He allegedly recognized Volodymyr in the photographs.
Eyewitnesses said that two men and a woman left Rostock on the "Andromeda" in early September 2022. The yacht stopped at Rügen, the Danish island of Christiansø, Sandhamn in Sweden and Kolobrzeg in Poland before finally returning to Rostock. One of the sailors claims that he heard the crew speaking Ukrainian.
Poland said that the crew of the yacht "Andromeda" was checked during a stop in Kolobrzeg, Poland, and found that the trip was "purely touristic." No one was seen on board "who had at least elementary military or subversive training." In German investigative circles, information from Poland was questioned. They repeatedly asked their Polish colleagues to release surveillance footage from the port of Kolobrzeg, but they said the footage had already been deleted.
In the investigation of German journalists, it is said that two Ukrainian suspects, in addition to Volodymyr Z., allegedly worked as diving instructors in the past. This is a married couple. Journalists believe that they are Yevhen and Svitlana U. They are active in social networks, share information about aid to the Ukrainian army, aid to Ukrainians in Germany, and collected money for night vision devices for the military.
In a telephone conversation, Svitlana stated that she did not know anything about the attack on the Nord Streams. In September 2022, when the pipeline attacks occurred, she was on vacation in Bulgaria and now lives in Kyiv.
- On September 26, 2022, three explosions occurred in the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines that run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany,causing massive gas leaks. Only one of the four threads of the gas pipeline remained intact. Western media wrote that Russia will preserve the Nord Streams because it is not going to repair them after the accidents.
- The governments of the United States, Great Britain and the EU have declared targeted sabotage. Russia believes that the United States and its allies are interested in the explosions. Western and Russian media wrote about different versions — starting with sabotage by the Russians themselves and ending with the involvement of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Ukraineʼs involvement in sabotage.
- In early February 2024, Sweden closed the investigation into the Nord Stream blow-up due to lack of jurisdiction. Following Sweden, Denmark also completed the investigation.