A Ukrainian national was arrested in Croatia on Wednesday in connection with the undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022, according to Germany’s federal prosecutor. The suspect, identified as Vladimir Z. by German authorities, who withheld his last name due to privacy regulations, was apprehended in Pula by local police acting on a European arrest warrant.
The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, constructed to transport Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea, sustained damage from undersea explosions on September 26, 2022. The incident occurred amid heightened tensions surrounding Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which prompted European nations to accelerate efforts to reduce their reliance on Russian energy sources.