German arrest warrant

 

German arrest warrant over Nord Stream blast mystery\

German state prosecutors trying to solve the mystery of who blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea in 2022 have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor.

The suspect has been named as Volodymyr Z by German media, who have treated the sabotage like a sensational true crime drama.

Ines Peterson, a spokeswoman for Germany’s prosecutor general, declined to confirm the arrest warrant, telling the BBC that her office never commented so as not to jeopardise the investigation by giving the suspect a chance to escape.

But the Polish prosecutor general's spokeswoman, Anna Adamiak, in Warsaw told the BBC's Adam Easton that a European Arrest Warrant had indeed been passed to them by German prosecutors.When Polish officers went to Volodymyr Z’s home in early July, he had already left the country for Ukraine, she said.

He had until then been living in a quiet residential area of Pruszków, a town near Warsaw, German media say.

According to an investigation by three German media outlets, including public broadcaster ARD, Volodymyr Z was part of a team of experienced Ukrainian divers who in September 2022 hired a German yacht, sailed out into the Baltic Sea and planted the explosives, blowing up three of the four Nord Stream pipelines.

A Ukrainian man and a Ukrainian woman are also suspected of involvement.