Volodymyr Zhuravlyov, a Ukrainian national and trained scuba diver, has been arrested in Croatia on suspicion of participating in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany. German prosecutors say he was among a group of divers who planted explosives under the Baltic Sea following Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine.
The arrest marks the second time a suspect has been detained for the plot, after earlier detentions in Poland and Italy. Zhuravlyov was initially identified only as ‘Vladimir Z’ but is now understood to be the same individual who was released in Poland in 2025 when a judge declined Germany’s extradition request, arguing that the act could be seen as a “just” war measure if Ukraine were responsible.
This legal and diplomatic clash has strained relations between Kyiv and Berlin, a key European backer of Ukraine’s war effort. The other suspect, former Ukrainian military officer Serhiy Kuznetsov, was extradited from Italy in August 2025 and is set to face trial in Hamburg. Prosecutors allege he led a team that used a yacht rented at Rostock to plant explosives on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm.
The explosions severely damaged Nord Stream 1, which had been operating to deliver Russian gas to Germany. The undersea pipeline route denied Germany transit fees and sparked criticism from Poland, the United States, and Ukraine long opposed to the project on security and economic grounds.
German courts consider the destruction fully under their jurisdiction because the pipeline terminates at Lubmin in Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern. The next step in the investigation is to bring Zhuravlyov before a German investigating judge to face charges of sabotage and terrorism.
