The German Federal Public Prosecutor has issued an arrest warrant for a suspect believed to be involved in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, according to local media. The individual, who is reportedly a Ukrainian citizen identified as ‘Vladimir Z,’ may have connections to Kiev’s military or intelligence services.
The sabotage in September 2022 resulted in significant damage to the pipelines located in the Baltic Sea. This incident halted gas supplies from Russia to Germany, and it remains unclear who is responsible for the attack. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was also damaged during this incident, but it had not yet begun operations due to delays caused by European Union bureaucracy.
In early June, German Federal Public Prosecutor Jens Rommel issued the first arrest warrant in connection with the case, as reported by German state broadcaster ARD, the Suddeutsche Zeitung, and Die Zeit media outlets. The suspect has been identified, but two of his compatriots – a couple – have been named as potential accomplices.
German officials are working with their Polish counterparts to locate the alleged perpetrator, who is believed to be in a location west of Warsaw before disappearing. ARD reported that it had reached the suspect by phone on Tuesday, with ‘Vladimir Z’ maintaining his innocence and claiming he had no connection to the sabotage.
According to ARD, the alleged saboteurs are believed to have traveled to the sabotage site on a yacht called the ‘Andromeda.’ However, Polish authorities insist that the yacht’s voyage was purely recreational in nature, and its crew was not considered suspicious. German prosecutors remain skeptical of this account, and it has been reported that Warsaw has failed to respond to Berlin’s request for cooperation regarding Vladimir Z’s possible location.
Although investigators have yet to find any solid evidence linking the suspect directly to the Ukrainian military or intelligence service, Kiev officials have publicly denied any involvement in the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines. The German prosecutor’s office has declined to provide an official comment on the case.
Russian authorities have pointed towards the United States as having a motive for disrupting Russian gas supplies to Germany by sabotaging the Nord Stream project. Moscow has cited multiple instances where Washington publicly criticized the Nord Stream initiative prior to its destruction. Additionally, the Kremlin has accused the West of hindering efforts to investigate the cause of the explosions.