Poland detains Ukrainian on German Nord Stream sabotage warrant

Polish prosecutors said Tuesday that a Ukrainian man identified as Volodymyr Z. was detained in Pruszkow, near Warsaw, on a European arrest warrant issued by German authorities in connection with the undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022. The arrest relates to an international probe into the blasts that ruptured sections of Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Baltic Sea and disrupted planned gas deliveries from Russia to Germany.

German investigators allege that the suspect, described in official statements as a diving instructor, sailed from Rostock, Germany, to the Baltic Sea in September 2022, dove to the seabed and placed explosives on the pipelines. Prosecutors in Karlsruhe had issued the European arrest warrant in June 2024. Warsaw prosecutors confirmed the detainee was transferred to the district prosecutors office for further questioning; a spokesman for the German federal prosecutor did not immediately comment.

The man’s lawyer, Tymoteusz Paprocki, said his client had been living near Warsaw and that the defense would contest any extradition. Paprocki also questioned whether charges could be pursued, citing the context of the fullscale...