Germany issues arrest warrant for Ukrainian suspected of blowing up Nordstream, - mass media
German Prosecutor General Jens Rommel issued the first arrest warrant in the case of bombing the Nord Stream gas pipelines - Ukrainian Volodymyr Z is suspected, who is currently wanted.
As Censor.NET informs, this is stated in the investigation of the German publications ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit.
Who is suspected?
In addition, two more citizens of Ukraine were suspected in the case, who, according to the investigation, took part in the detonations, presumably as divers - attaching explosives to gas pipelines.
All three traveled the Baltic Sea on the German sailing yacht Andromeda in September 2022.
According to journalists, the suspect Volodymyr Z., a diving instructor, lived in the town of Pruszków west of Warsaw, but lately the Ukrainian is allegedly hiding. It is not known whether he returned to Ukraine.
It said German prosecutors had applied to Polish authorities for a European arrest warrant, hoping to arrest the suspect.
What is known about the suspected Ukrainian?
Volodymyr Z., according to the investigation, was one of the passengers of a white Citroën, which was recorded near Rügen on the night of September 8, 2022. The car is believed to have taken the crew to the Andromeda yacht, which was transporting divers to the detonation sites.
Volodymyr Z. was identified by photographs and witness statements, and this evidence was sufficient to issue an arrest warrant.
Other suspects in the case of blowing up gas pipelines
Eyewitnesses said that two men and a woman left Rostock on the "Andromeda" in early September 2022. The yacht stopped at Rügen, the Danish island of Christiansø, Sandhamn in Sweden and Kolobrzeg in Poland before finally returning to Rostock. One of the sailors claims that he heard the crew speaking Ukrainian.
Information about other suspects is based, among other things, on foreign intelligence.
In the investigation of German journalists, it is said that two Ukrainian suspects, in addition to Volodymyr Z., allegedly worked as diving instructors in the past. This is a married couple. Journalists believe that they are Yevhen and Svitlana U. They are active in social networks, share information about aid to the Ukrainian army, aid to Ukrainians in Germany, and collected money for night vision devices for the military.
According to the general rules of the European Arrest Warrant, which Germany and Poland consider binding, the arrest could be expected within 60 days without further investigation by Poland. This term has now expired.
German journalists contacted the suspect, Volodymyr Z., who said in a telephone conversation that he was hearing about the suspicion for the first time and denied involvement in the attack on the Nord Stream.
Bombing 'Nordstream'
It will be recalled that at the end of September 2022, four leaks occurred on two lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea off the coast of the Danish island of Bornholm. The investigation revealed that the pipelines were detonated by underwater explosives, but it is still unknown who was behind the blasts.
At the same time, materials appeared in the Western media suggesting that non-governmental groups, which could include Russians and Ukrainians, could be behind the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
Denmark, Sweden and Germany have launched their own investigations into what happened.
The EU did not officially accuse Russia of involvement in the organization of explosions at gas stations, but did not rule out such a possibility.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in turn, called the USA, Ukraine and Poland the beneficiaries of sabotage on the "Nord Streams", before that he accused the "Anglo-Saxons" of undermining these gas pipelines.
In February 2024, Denmark announced the termination of the investigation into the explosions in 2022 on the Russian Nord Stream gas pipelines, which transported gas to Germany, due to a lack of grounds.
Earlier in February, Sweden dropped its investigation into the bombings, saying it had no jurisdiction in the case, but handed the evidence it discovered to German investigators, who have yet to issue any findings.
