German investigators have identified all suspects in sabotage on the “Nord Stream” gas pipelines in 2022. Arrest warrants have been issued for six Ukrainians.
This is stated in an investigation by ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Zeit.
According to German investigators, seven people took part in the operation. Among them were four divers, the person responsible for the explosives, the captain, and Sergey Kuznetsov, who was arrested in Italy and is awaiting a court decision on extradition to Germany and officially denies the charges.
Among those identified is diving instructor Volodymyr S. He was in Poland, where he ran a company, but left the country after the German warrant.
Also, according to German investigators, the suspects are 52-year-old Vsevolod K., who has been missing since December 2024 during the war against Russia, and another soldier Evgeny U. — he was allegedly responsible for the explosives.
Professional diver Valeria T. allegedly raised the morale of the four divers on board, one of whom investigators identify under the code name Oleksandr O., and motivated them to dive even in bad weather.
At the same time, the captain of the yacht "Andromeda", which the group used to commit sabotage, was a man with passports named "Mykhailo Popov" and "Yuriy Kotenko".
The yachtʼs crew also included skipper Yuriy T. from Odesa. He is an experienced athlete who has competed in sailing competitions around the world. Investigators identified him based on fingerprints found on the yacht. According to ARD, SZ and Zeit, this man had previously had problems entering the Netherlands and apparently had to be fingerprinted.
The media write: there are signs that the suspects acted with the support of Ukrainian state bodies. However, German investigators do not yet have any final conclusions regarding Ukraineʼs involvement. The Ukrainian side rejects the accusation of involvement.
The report says the suspects traveled through Poland using real Ukrainian passports but with fake names. Last summer, one of the suspects was allegedly transported from Poland to Kyiv in the car of a Ukrainian military attaché, likely to avoid arrest.
“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 gas pipeline strands remained intact. Western media reported that Russia was shutting down “Nord Stream” because it was not going to repair it after the accidents.
The US, UK and EU governments have declared a deliberate sabotage. Russia believes that the US and its allies are interested in the bombings. Western and Russian media have written about different versions — from sabotage by the Russians themselves to the involvement of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied Ukraineʼs involvement in the sabotage.
In early February 2024, Sweden closed its investigation into the “Nord Stream” sabotage due to lack of jurisdiction. Following Sweden, Denmark also closed its investigation.
Germany is currently investigating the role of former Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi in the “Nord Stream” sabotage, as reported by the American newspaper The Wall Street Journal. Zelensky allegedly initially approved the plan, but later ordered it canceled, and Zaluzhnyi continued the operation despite this.
In November 2024, the German newspaper Der Spiegel published an investigation that stated that the saboteurs who sabotaged “Nord Stream” also planned to blow up “TurkStream” in the Black Sea, but they failed.
Ukrainian Serhiy Kuznetsov, who was detained on suspicion of involvement in two explosions at the “Nord Stream” gas pipelines, has denied the charges.
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