A Ukrainian individual was apprehended on Wednesday in Croatia in connection with the underwater blasts that caused damage to the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Germany in 2022, as stated by Germany’s federal prosecutor. The man, identified as Vladimir Z., was arrested by local authorities in Pula, Croatia, following a European warrant. Prosecutors revealed that Vladimir Z., a certified scuba diver, was part of a group responsible for planting explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022. He is suspected of playing a key role in causing explosions, carrying out anti-constitutional sabotage, and destroying buildings and structures.
The German government expressed satisfaction with the arrest, emphasizing the importance of clarifying the pipeline bombings. Earlier last month, German federal prosecutors pressed charges against a former Ukrainian army officer, Serhii K., in connection with the same incidents. Serhii K. was detained in Italy in August 2025 and subsequently extradited to Germany in November, facing charges related to causing explosions, property damage, disruption of public services, and complicity in war crimes by targeting civilian objects. German authorities alleged that Serhii K. and accomplices departed from the port of Rostock using a yacht rented from a German firm.
Notably, Poland had previously resisted extraditing a man with the same name and initial, identified as Volodymyr Zhuravlov. The individual detained in Croatia was confirmed to be the same person, known to Polish authorities as Volodymyr Zhuravlov. Poland’s opposition to the Nord Stream pipelines was evident, viewing them as a strategic move by Russia to leverage its energy resources across Europe. The involvement of the U.S. and Ukraine in the pipeline incidents has been refuted, with accusations and denials surrounding the explosions that damaged the pipelines conveying Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, exacerbating tensions amid Europe’s efforts to lessen reliance on Russian energy sources in the wake of the Ukraine conflict.