Overview
- The arrest of Ukrainian national Vladimir/Wolodymyr Z. was carried out Wednesday in Pula under a European arrest warrant issued by a Bundesgerichtshof investigating judge.
- German prosecutors accuse the 46-year-old, an experienced diver, of taking part in the dives that attached explosives to Nord Stream 1 and 2 and have charged him with causing a bomb explosion, sabotage and destruction of structures.
- This is the second major detention in the probe after Serhii K. was arrested in Italy in August 2025, extradited to Germany and indicted in Hamburg; authorities plan to bring Vladimir Z. before the BGH judge after his transfer.
- Investigators say the operation used a sailing yacht that left from Rostock and trained divers who affixed charges near Bornholm at about 80 meters depth, with explosions on 26 September 2022 severely damaging the pipelines.
- The arrest highlights growing cross‑border police cooperation after a prior Polish refusal to extradite the suspect and could yield evidence on the attack team though who ordered the sabotage remains unresolved.