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The explosion occurred in September 2022 (Image: Getty)
A Ukrainian national named 'Volodymyr Z' has been arrested over his alleged involvement in the Nord Stream explosions in 2022. He was wanted under a European Arrest Warrant issued by a German court and now faces the threat of being extradited to Poland's western neighbour.
The suspect was captured by police in Pruszków and has now been transferred to the District Prosecutor's Office in Warsaw, according to local reports. His defence lawyer denied there were any grounds to charge his client, considering the gas pipelines were a means for Russia to finance its illegal war against Ukraine. Tymoteusz Paprocki told the Polish media outlet RMF FM: "In general, considering the full-scale war in Ukraine and the fact that Nord Stream is owned by the Russian company Gazprom, which finances these activities, the defence currently does not see any possibility of bringing charges against anyone who participated in these activities."
On September 26, 2022, three of four Nord Stream pipes experienced a series of underwater explosions and consequent gas leaks, rendering them inoperable.
The leaks were located in international waters, but within the economic zones of Denmark and Sweden. Both pipelines were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea.
German authorities allege Volodymyr Z - a diving instructor - was directly involved in the attack.
They claim he sailed from Rostock to the Baltic Sea on a yacht in September 2022, then dived underwater, placing the explosives on the pipelines.
Germany's prosecutor's office sent a European Arrest Warrant for Volodymyr Z. to Poland in June. However, Polish authorities failed to act. Then, in August, German media outlets claimed he had been living near Warsaw, Poland's capital city.
That same month, Italian police arrested another suspect in the case - identified as Ukrainian Serhiy K. The 49-year-old man is alleged to have also been on the yacht at the time of the attack and to have helped coordinate the operation.
He was taken into custody while on hoilday with his family in the Italain seaside resort of Rimini on the Adroatic coast.
A statement issued by Germany's prosecutor's office said: "Serhiy K. was part of a group of people who placed explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines near the island of Bornholm in September 2022.
"The suspect was probably one of the coordinators of the operation."
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline was launched in 2011-2012 and had a total capacity of over 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
Nord Stream 2, which ran parallel to it, was intended to transport a similar amount of gas. However, Putin's decision to launch his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 meant the pipeline never became operational.
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