Nord Stream sabotage suspect to be extradited from Croatia; court ruling faces appeal with final decision still pending
Published On ۲۴ Sep ۲۰۲۶
A Croatian court has approved the extradition of a Ukrainian man wanted in Germany in connection with the ۲۰۲۲ undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
The man was arrested on a European warrant in the northern Croatian town of Pula in August while reportedly working on a Hollywood dramatisation of the attack, according to the AFP news agency.
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On Thursday, his lawyer, Ljubo Pavasovic Viskovic, said the court approved the extradition on September ۱۸.
Pavasovic Viskovic added that the ruling is not final and will be appealed, so it is unclear when or whether the extradition will take place.
German prosecutors identified the man as Vladimir Z.
They said the suspect was a “trained scuba diver” who was part of a team that allegedly “planted explosives” on the Nord Stream ۱ and Nord Stream ۲ gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm.
The undersea blasts on September ۲۶, ۲۰۲۲, damaged the pipelines, which had been built to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
In July, German federal prosecutors filed charges against a former Ukrainian army officer in connection with the explosions.
Prosecutors accuse Vladimir Z of working closely with another Ukrainian identified by German prosecutors as Serhii K. He was detained in August ۲۰۲۵ during a raid on the bungalow in an Italian village where he was staying with his family. He was then extradited to Germany in November last year.
Serhii K is due to face trial at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court on October ۱۴, and the proceedings could continue through February ۲۰۲۷.
The Nord Stream attacks came months after Russia’s ۲۰۲۲ full-scale invasion of Ukraine, destroying three of the four pipelines of the major energy link at a time when European countries were trying to gradually wean themselves off Russian energy.
German investigators believe a Ukrainian state agency ordered the attack to deprive Russia of revenues to finance its invasion of Ukraine.
The case is politically awkward for Germany and Ukraine, as Berlin has been one of Kyiv’s strongest supporters in its fight against Russia.
German government officials, when asked about the issue, have pointed to the judiciary’s independence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his government knew nothing about any plan to blow up the pipelines.
