
Croatian authorities have arrested Ukrainian citizen Vladimir Z. in Pula, based on a European arrest warrant issued by Germany. He is suspected of involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe, Germany, the arrest was carried out by the Pula Police Department in coordination with the Zagreb Police Directorate.
The arrested person is under serious suspicion that, together with other perpetrators, he caused the explosion in the Nord Stream gas pipeline and thus committed sabotage and destruction of an infrastructure facility.
Diver of a terrorist group
The Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe, which is responsible for acts directed against the constitutional order, says in the arrest warrant that Ukrainian Vladimir Z. is a trained diver and that he belonged to a group of people gathered around his compatriot Serhiy K., against whom separate proceedings are being conducted.
This group is accused of placing explosive devices on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in September 2022, near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. The suspect participated in the diving operations necessary to place the explosives.
He and his accomplices used a sailboat that set off from the German port of Rostock for transportation. The vessel had been previously rented from a German company through an intermediary who used forged personal documents.
The explosive detonated on September 26, 2022, causing severe damage to both gas pipelines.
The process continues - in Germany
After extradition from Croatia, the suspect must be brought before an investigating judge at the German Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe. On June 30, 2026, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit against Serhiy K., against whom separate proceedings are underway, at the Higher Court in Hamburg.