German authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national in connection to the explosion that damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline two years ago, resurrecting questions of Ukraine’s involvement in the incident.
The suspect, identified by German media only as “Volodymyr Z,” had lived in Poland at the time but fled to Ukraine before authorities could execute the arrest warrant in early July. He had lived in the town of Pruszkow near Warsaw, Poland, according to the BBC.
Volodymyr Z allegedly participated in a six-man diving team of experienced Ukrainians who, in September 2022, rented a German yacht to sail over the Nord Stream pipeline and planted explosives that damaged a few of the pipelines.
The pipelines were condemned by the West as a national security threat. They allowed Russia to sell gas more easily to Europe despite sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine.
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The underwater detonations on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany, occurred in international waters but within Swedish and Danish economic zones. Sweden earlier said that a state actor was the most likely culprit.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the plan took four months to enact and cost around $300,000. The group brought a female diver so that they could pose as a group going out on a pleasure cruise.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, not pictured, in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 18, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidency/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy originally supported the plan, but after the CIA learned of it and asked him to stop it, he tried to halt the effort. The WSJ reported that Commander-in-Chief Valeriy Zaluzhniy ignored the order and pushed ahead with the plan.
Four senior Ukrainian defense and security officials told the outlet that the pipelines were viewed as a legitimate target in the war. Zaluzhniy denied the claims, saying he had no knowledge of the operation and labeled such claims as “mere provocation.”
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German intelligence officers raised concerns that, despite these reports, they believe it is entirely possible that this amounts to a Russian “false flag operation” that could cover up the country’s involvement in self-sabotage that helped justify their continued invasion of Ukraine, according to Politico, citing German publication Welt am Sonntag.
Politico reported that Polish security agents support this theory and sent a document with names of Russian suspects to Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service, but the Germans remained convinced of Ukrainian responsibility.
A screen grab from Danish Defense shows a gas leak causing bubbles on the surface of the water at Sea in Sweden on Sept. 30, 2022. (Swedish Coast Guard Handout /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
German media named two other suspects: Svitlana and Yevhen Uspenska, a married couple who run a diving school in Ukraine. They denied involvement, with Svitlana Uspenska claiming she was in Kyiv at the time of the incident.
Germany, Denmark and Sweden all opened investigations into the incident, but Sweden and Denmark closed their investigations earlier this year.
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Sweden had found traces of explosives on several objects recovered from the site, confirming the incident was indeed an act of sabotage, but the Swedes and Danes determined that they did not have “sufficient grounds” to pursue a criminal case.
Denmark’s decision to close the investigation was expected, Kenneth Øhlenschlæger Buhl of the Royal Danish Defense College told The Associated Press.
President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with Russian Government members at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence on Aug. 7, 2024. (SERGEI BOBYLYOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“The Swedes said they had a fairly good idea of who was behind it but have no jurisdiction over those they wanted to talk to,” Øhlenschlæger Buhl said. The Danes are saying “the same, just slightly different words.”
U.S. intelligence in 2023 suggested that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the attack, and then-National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the U.S. believed “it was an act of sabotage” while stressing that the U.S. was not involved.
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Neither the U.S. State Department nor the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry responded to a Fox News Digital request for comment by the time of publication.
Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
