Germany has issued a warrant for the arrest of a Ukrainian man for undermining Nord Stream: media
The suspect, a diving instructor who previously lived in the town of Pruszków west of Warsaw, is currently believed to be in hiding.
Almost two years after the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, German Attorney General Jens Rommel issued an arrest warrant for the main suspect, Volodymyr S., a Ukrainian who previously lived in Poland. This information was published by several German mass media, among them HIGH, Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and The time.
According to journalists, the suspect, a diving instructor, lived in the town of Pruszków, near Warsaw. However, according to the latest information, Volodymyr S. may be hiding, and his whereabouts remain unknown, including whether he has returned to Ukraine.
The investigators established that Volodymyr S. was among the passengers of a white Citroën that was spotted near Rügen Island on the night of September 8, 2022. It is suspected that this car was transporting the crew to the Andromeda yacht, which was transporting divers to the sites of the explosions. Volodymyr S. was identified on the basis of photographs and testimonies, which gave grounds for issuing a warrant for his arrest.
In addition to Volodymyr S., the investigation also suspects two other citizens of Ukraine, a man and a woman, who probably participated in the detonation as divers, installing explosive charges on pipelines. Information about their participation is based on foreign intelligence data.
In recent months, investigators managed to gather enough evidence to obtain an arrest warrant for Volodymyr S. from the investigating judge of the Federal Court back in June. In June, German prosecutors applied to Polish authorities for a European arrest warrant, hoping for a quick arrest of the suspect. However, the Polish side did not respond to the request, and the German government remained without information about Poland’s further actions.
Under the rules of the European Arrest Warrant, which are binding on both Germany and Poland, the arrest of the suspect was to take place within 60 days without further investigation. However, this term has already expired.
German journalists contacted Volodymyr S. by phone, and he stated that he was hearing about his suspicion for the first time and categorically denied any involvement in the gas pipeline blow-up.
