The Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlyov arrested in Croatia may have served as a consultant for a film about the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines, The Guardian reports, citing information from the newspaper Die Welt. Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office said local police detained him on a European arrest warrant.
It noted that the detainee is a professional and experienced scuba diver who allegedly belonged to a group with another Ukrainian, Serhiy K., who was extradited from Italy to Germany last year. Both men are believed to be linked to the explosions on the gas pipelines running from Russia to Europe.
Both divers deny involvement in the blasts that occurred in 2022 near the Danish island of Bornholm. The Ukrainian authorities have denied any involvement in the sabotage and said they are seeking to establish the circumstances of the incident, which took place against the backdrop of the war launched by Russia.
Volodymyr Zhuravlyov was previously detained in Poland—under the same German warrant. But a Polish court refused to extradite him to Germany.
Zhuravlyov’s lawyers are likely now also trying to prevent their client’s extradition to Germany, where he would face a lengthy prison term. If he remains in Croatia, the court will in effect consider an issue similar to the one already heard in Poland, said Zhuravlyov’sa Polish lawyer, Tymoteusz Paprocki. Last year, a Polish court decided not to execute the European arrest warrant issued by Germany, arguing that Germany lacks jurisdiction and that the destruction of Nord Stream could be viewed as a justified action by Ukraine in a defensive war. At the time, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the problem was not that Nord Stream 2 was blown up, but that it was built.
Paprocki said: “This will be a case against the same person, with the same facts, the same applicable laws and European conventions, and the same European arrest warrant submitted by the same country—Germany.”
“The question will arise whether there is a single line in court decisions, or whether each country can apply international law in its own way,” he added, noting that this case will test European law.
Paprocki said he does not have detailed information about the arrest, but confirmed that Zhuravlyov was in Croatia not on vacation. “He must have had serious and important reasons” to go there, the lawyer added, without going into details. Earlier, Die Welt reported that there are indications of Zhuravlyov’s involvement in the filming.
The Nord Stream sabotage
In July, German prosecutors sent to court an indictment against a Ukrainian citizen suspected of involvement in the sabotage of two strings of the pipeline that, before the full-scale war, supplied Russian gas to European Union countries. This is the first charge in the case. At the time, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said that at this stage of the investigation, Ukraine’s involvement had not been established.
The explosions on the Russian gas pipelines occurred in September 2022. Preliminary findings by investigators in Sweden and Denmark indicate that the blasts were deliberate. The Ukrainian president denied any involvement by Ukrainians in the sabotage. European investigators accused Poland of obstructing the investigation.
In November 2023, The Washington Post wrote that former intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyy may have been involved in the sabotage.
In November 2024, Germany’s Prosecutor General’s Office said it had identified two suspects in the Nord Stream sabotage. At the same time, the identities of other participants, the motives for the crime, and, in particular, the question of possible state control over the operation are still under investigation.