Poland gets European arrest warrant in Nord Stream explosion case

Poland has received a European arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man believed to have been involved in the sabotage attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, a spokeswoman for the Polish public prosecutor's office told dpa on Wednesday, reported dpa.

The warrant, issued by Germany, is the latest twist in a highly unusual case that has confounded observers for almost two years, since the two pipelines from Russia to Germany were targeted by unknown perpetrators in September 2022.

The suspect in the case is Volodymyr Z., a Ukrainian citizen who was last known to be in Poland after entering the country from Ukraine in July, the spokeswoman said.

He was not found during a search at his place of residence, she said.

German newspapers Die Zeit and the Süddeutsche Zeitung, along with public broadcaster ARD, reported earlier that Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor General had obtained a warrant for a Ukrainian man believed to be in Poland.

"We are not commenting on the media reports," said a Justice Ministry spokeswoman in Berlin. The German public prosecutor's office could not initially be reached for comment.

Speculation about what caused the incident and who was responsible has swirled for nearly two years.

According to research by the three media outlets, two other Ukrainian nationals are suspected of involvement in the attacks, potentially as divers who could have planted explosive devices on the pipelines.

The outlets said their report was based on "information from a foreign intelligence service."

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were damaged by several explosions on September 26, 2022. The explosions were registered near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, and four leaks were discovered shortly afterwards in three of the four pipelines.

Russian natural gas previously flowed to Germany through Nord Stream 1. A second pipe, Nord Stream 2, was completed in 2021 but never came into operation due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Authorities in several countries began investigating the case, but Denmark and Sweden have since ended their probes.

Previous investigations had focussed on a sailing yacht on which traces of explosives were discovered in July 2023. It was suspected that the Andromeda may have been used to transport the explosives for the sabotage.

By Doris Heimann and Anne-Béatrice Clasmann.