The investigation of the explosions of the Russian gas pipelines “Nord Stream” in the Baltic Sea in 2022 is headed on a Ukrainian trail after it became clear that a German arrest warrant had been issued for a Ukrainian diver suspected, according to several media outlets, of participating in the sabotage along with two other Ukrainians, France Press reported.
This latest development in the mysterious case, which has been under investigation for almost two years, was revealed today by German media – the public television channel Aer De and the prestigious newspapers "Zeit" and "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
Polish prosecutors confirmed to AFP that in June they received a European arrest warrant issued by the German federal prosecutor's office for a Ukrainian man living in Poland at the time, identified as Volodymyr Z.
Under European mutual legal assistance rules, Polish authorities had 60 days to respond to the German request and arrest the suspect.
In the meantime, however, he left Poland at the beginning of July to return to Ukraine, the Polish prosecutor's office said, blaming the German authorities.
According to the Polish prosecutor's office, the German authorities failed to register the suspect as a wanted person in time, which allowed him to escape.
The German federal prosecutor's office, which is in charge of one aspect of the investigation into the blasts, declined to respond to AFP requests for comment.
„In Berlin, the deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Böchner did not comment on the latest developments, but hinted to the media that German justice is determined to continue the investigation into the sabotage, regardless of who is behind it.
„The investigation is being conducted /.../ regardless of the persons involved and regardless of the outcome,” he said, adding that this does not change the fact that Russia is waging an aggressive war against Ukraine in violation of international law.
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According to the German media, Ukrainian diving instructor Volodymyr Z. lived not far from Warsaw.
He is suspected by German justice that, together with two other Ukrainian divers, represented by the German media as Evgen U. and Svetlana U., he participated in the sabotage of the gas pipeline in the depths of the Baltic Sea.
The trio are believed to have transported the explosives to the scene aboard the sailing boat “Andromeda”, which German prosecutors revealed they had opened an investigation into in 2023. According to investigators, the boat left Rostock in Germany on the Baltic Sea before making a stopover on a Danish island before heading to Sweden and Poland.
German authorities are greatly surprised by Poland's lack of cooperation in this investigation, German media reported, citing possible accomplices of the Ukrainian trio in Poland.
Contacted by various German media by phone, Volodymyr Z. and Svetlana U. deny having participated in the explosions.
According to the German daily "Welt", which contacted Svetlana U. today, she intends to take legal action against the claims of the German media.
Although Sweden and Denmark had already closed their investigation into the case at the beginning of the year, German investigators continued their work.
However, according to the German media, there is no evidence at this stage to indicate that the suspected Ukrainians acted on the orders of the Ukrainian authorities, the secret services or the armed forces of their country.
Kiev denies any responsibility for the sabotage. "I would never do this," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the German newspaper "Bild". in June 2023
In March 2023, the “New York Times” announced, based on information received from American intelligence, that a “pro-Ukrainian group“ was behind the sabotage, but without the involvement of the Ukrainian authorities.
On September 26, 2022, four massive gas leaks preceded by underwater explosions occur within hours of each other in the “Nord Stream” 1 and 2 – the gas pipelines that connect Russia to Germany and through which the majority of Russian gas is transported to Europe. At the time of the explosions, the gas pipelines were not in operation, AFP points out.