Almost two years after the explosion of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines on September 26, 2022, the German prosecutor's office has for the first time issued an arrest warrant for one of the members of the group responsible for sabotaging the double pipeline linking Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. However, a joint investigation by several German media outlets (the public broadcaster ARD, the daily Süddeutsche Zeitung and the weekly Die Zeit), published on Wednesday, August 14, revealed that the suspect, Volodymyr Z., a Ukrainian who had taken refuge in Poland, escaped investigation − probably helped by the Polish authorities' lack of effort to apprehend him.
Two other people, a married couple, also of Ukrainian nationality, have reportedly been identified by investigators as members of the commando that dived to the bottom of the Baltic Sea, not far from the Danish island of Bornholm and the coast of southern Sweden. The couple run a diving school in Ukraine, where Volodymyr Z. was an instructor.
The wife, Svitlana U., is a member of various Telegram groups dedicated to helping war refugees from Ukraine, including those in Germany. Through her social media activity, she reportedly raised funds in March 2022 to purchase a special pair of thermal imaging binoculars worth €4,500, apparently destined for the Ukrainian army. "Dear friends, let's continue to help our men on the front line of this war," she wrote on Facebook at the time.
While Sweden and Denmark closed their own investigations without prosecution earlier this year, German Attorney General Jens Rommel decided to continue the investigation. According to information published on Wednesday, he had gathered sufficient evidence over recent months to issue a European arrest warrant for Volodymyr Z. in early June. At the same time, he asked the Polish authorities to surrender the suspect, as German investigators had found him living west of Warsaw.
Under European mutual legal assistance rules, the Polish authorities had 60 days to respond to Berlin's request and arrest the person. On Wednesday, Poland confirmed that it had received the German arrest warrant. The Polish prosecutor's office told Agence France-Presse (AFP) it received the warrant for "Volodymyr Z." in June "in connection with proceedings against him in Germany" but the suspect left for Ukraine before he could be detained.
On September 8, 2022, the sighting of a white van on the island of Rügen in northern Germany three weeks before the explosion is believed to have played an important role in identifying the suspect. Investigators suspect that the vehicle was used to transport diving equipment, which was later loaded onto a pleasure yacht, the Andromeda, to transport the members of the commando team to the site of the explosion. When questioned by German police, the van driver admitted to having transported a group of people from Ukraine to Germany. He then identified Volodymyr Z. as one of the passengers, from photos submitted to him by the investigators.
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