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German Probe Links Nord Stream Blasts to Ukrainian Elite Unit Under Zaluzhnyi

Case findings set up extradition fights that threaten a rift between Berlin and Kyiv.

Overview

  • Wall Street Journal reporting says German investigators formed a clear account that an elite Ukrainian unit carried out the 2022 pipeline sabotage under then-commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
  • German authorities issued arrest warrants for multiple Ukrainians tied to roles including a skipper, coordinator, explosives expert and four divers who allegedly sailed from Rostock on the yacht Andromeda.
  • Investigators traced suspects through boat rentals, phone and license records, and a speed‑camera image matched via commercial facial recognition to social and professional profiles.
  • Italy’s Bologna court approved the extradition of Serhii Kuznetsov to Germany and his defense appealed to the Supreme Court, with German police preparing an aircraft for transfer to Hamburg as Kuznetsov conducts a hunger strike noted by Ukraine’s ombudsman.
  • A Warsaw court refused to extradite another Ukrainian suspect, and WSJ‑cited reporting relayed by Sputnik describes a traced diver being driven to Ukraine in a diplomatic car after a Polish tip.