Another Suspect in Nord Stream Blast Case Detained in Croatia — German Prosecutor’s Office
Gas leak location on Nord Stream 2 
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — German Federal Prosecutor’s Office said on Wednesday it detained another suspect in connection with Nord Stream pipeline blast case. «This morning (August 19, 2026), the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office, acting on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by the investigating judge of the Federal Supreme Court on June 3, 2024, initiated the arrest of Ukrainian citizen Vladimir Z. in Pula, Croatia, by forces of the local police department, coordinated by the Zagreb General Police Headquarters,» the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a press release.The suspect Vladimir Z., detained in Croatia, was part of a group led by Ukrainian citizen Serhii K., who was charged with the involvement in the Nord Stream blast in June, the German Prosecutor General’s Office said.»He was part of a group of individuals formed around the separately pursued Serhii K., which in September 2022 planted explosive devices on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines near the island of Bornholm,» the statement said.The Ukrainian suspect detained in Croatia on Wednesday in connection with the Nord Stream pipeline explosions will appear before the Federal Court of Justice in Germany after extradition from Croatia, the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office said.»After his extradition from Croatia, the accused is to be brought before an investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice,» the office said in a statement.The detained Ukrainian, Volodymyr Z., is a professional diver, the statement said. He is suspected of participating in dives to plant explosive devices on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the prosecutor’s office said.»The accused is suspected of committing an explosion using explosives by a group of people, anti-constitutional sabotage, as well as destruction of facilities,» it read.In August 2025, former Ukrainian Armed Forces officer Serhii Kuznetsov was detained in Italy on suspicion of involvement in these attacks and extradited to Germany several months later. Kuznetsov’s lawyer, Nicola Canestrini, said that German prosecutors believe the sabotage on the Nord Stream was ordered by the Ukrainian government.The gas pipelines were bombed in September 2022. Germany, Denmark and Sweden did not rule out sabotage. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office opened an investigation into what it termed as an act of international terrorism. Russia requested data on other countries’ probes into the explosions but never received it, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh previously alleged that US Navy divers planted explosives under the pipelines during NATO’s BALTOPS exercises with Norwegian assistance. Washington has denied any involvement.
Nord Stream SabotageTerrorist Attacks on Nord Stream Pipelines26 September 2025, 13:16 GMT
