Second Suspect Arrested in Croatia for Nord Stream Attack
The diver, sought by Germany since last year and whose extradition Poland refused, has been taken into custody by investigators in Croatia. Germany will request his extradition.
The diver, sought by Germany since last year and whose extradition Poland refused, has been taken into custody by investigators in Croatia. Germany will request his extradition.
A second suspect in the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage case has been arrested in Croatia, according to German public broadcaster ARD, citing investigators. The man is suspected of being one of the divers who placed explosive devices on the pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
Germany's federal prosecutor announced on Wednesday that Croatian police, acting on a European arrest warrant, had detained a Ukrainian citizen in Pula. The suspect has been identified as Vladimir Z., and he is suspected of causing explosions and destroying structures. According to the prosecutor's office, Vladimir Z. is a trained diver and is "strongly suspected of having jointly caused the explosions."
According to Tagesschau, Germany's federal prosecutor (Generalbundesanwalt) had located this man in Poland last year and requested Polish police to arrest him. However, the Polish judiciary, contrary to interstate agreements, refused his extradition to Germany, leading to significant diplomatic tensions. The suspect was then released.
Investigators have now managed to find him in Croatia. Germany will request his extradition, as Tagesschau reports. Croatia's Ministry of the Interior confirmed the arrest but stated that the individual's identity is still being verified.
The attack on the Nord Stream pipelines occurred in September 2022. Three of the four pipes were destroyed, completely disabling the pipeline. The explosives were placed from a sailboat at a depth of about 80 meters. The underwater explosions on September 26, 2022, damaged the pipelines built to transport Russian natural gas to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea. The damage further heightened tensions surrounding the war in Ukraine, as European countries sought to distance themselves from Russian energy sources following the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.
German investigators have managed to identify a team of suspected perpetrators. The alleged leader of the attack, a Ukrainian, was arrested in Italy, and his trial is expected to begin in Hamburg in the coming weeks. Who ordered the attack, according to available information, has not yet been clearly established.
