European Observatory to Combat Radicalization – EOCR
Nord Stream attack: Germany issues arrest warrant for Ukrainian suspect
euractiv – Germany has issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national suspected of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines in 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an investigative report by German media revealed.
Two years ago, in September 2022, the Russian-European gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2 exploded, severely hindering Russia’s gas supply capability to Germany and other European countries, just months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to investigative research by the German news outlets ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit, the German Federal Public Prosecutor is investigating three Ukrainian scuba school teachers for their involvement in the explosions. The evidence against one of them is so strong that an arrest warrant was issued in July.
However, the suspect seems to have gone into hiding, after apparently living in a town close to Warsaw, Poland. According to the investigative report, he is out of reach of the German authorities.
In a first reaction, a German government spokesperson explained that “the investigation of the Nord Stream sabotage act is a top priority.” However, it was highlighted that the investigation will not impact Germany’s wider relations to Ukraine “because the one has nothing to do with the other.”
“The case is completely independent of the fact that we will support Ukraine, as the Federal Chancellor has repeatedly said, for as long as necessary in its defence against this war of aggression by Russia, which violates international law,” the spokesperson said on Wednesday.
According to the report, the suspect is said to be highly trained in deep underwater scuba diving, specialised in long-distance and extreme depth diving, just like his two colleagues. Together with two other individuals, the federal Public Prosecutor believes that the group went on an 18-day-long sailing trip in early September 2022, culminating in the explosion of the gas pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm.
Shortly after the sabotage, the German authorities began investigating a “wilful causation of a detonation with explosives”. While Denmark and Sweden stopped their investigative procedures earlier this year, Germany continued to try to get to the bottom of the attack. After being tipped off by an intelligence service of a cooperating country, further evidence led to an international warrant against the suspect in June, who was apparently residing in Poland.
Polish authorities however have not yet carried out the requested arrest, and it is reported that cooperation on this matter between the two countries has been difficult. In the meantime, the suspect apparently disappeared.
Poland itself, along with several other European countries, were long critical of the gas pipelines, arguing that the project made Europe dependent on cheap Russian gas.
European Observatory to Combat Radicalization – EOCR
