Ukrainian man arrested in Croatia over 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions

Croatian police arrested Ukrainian national Volodymyr Zhuravlov in Pula on August 19, 2026, under a European warrant for his alleged role in the September 2022 Nord Stream pipeline bombings. Germany seeks his extradition to face charges of sabotage and causing explosions. Zhuravlov was previously arrested in Poland in 2025, but Polish courts refused extradition, viewing the sabotage as a justified defensive act for Ukraine. Kyiv denies involvement, while Germany continues prosecuting co-suspect Serhii K.

Volodymyr Zhuravlov arrest in Croatia

• ▪German prosecutors seek the extradition of Volodymyr Zhuravlov from Croatia to face charges of causing explosions and anti-constitutional sabotage at the Federal Court of Justice in Germany.
• ▪Tymoteusz Paprocki, the Polish defense lawyer for Volodymyr Zhuravlov, stated that Zhuravlov was aware that the 2025 Polish court ruling blocking his extradition applied only within Poland.
• ▪Croatian police arrested Ukrainian national Volodymyr Zhuravlov, also known as Vladimir Z, in Pula, Croatia, on August 19, 2026, under a European arrest warrant.

Nord Stream pipeline sabotage investigation

• ▪Former Ukrainian army officer Serhii K was arrested in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany in November 2025 on charges of orchestrating the Nord Stream blasts.
• ▪Undersea explosions on September 26, 2022, damaged three of the four Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.
• ▪German investigators found traces of subsea explosives in samples taken from a yacht rented from Rostock, Germany, which was allegedly used to transport the explosives.
• ▪German Ministry of Justice spokesperson Nicholas Limmer welcomed the August 19, 2026 arrest of Volodymyr Zhuravlov, stating that clarifying the pipeline bombings is important.

Ukrainian involvement allegations

• ▪Former Ukrainian army officer Serhii K denied any involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline explosions during court appearances.
• ▪German prosecutors allege that Volodymyr Zhuravlov and Serhii K belonged to a group that planted explosives to permanently halt Russian gas deliveries through the Nord Stream pipelines.
• ▪The Ukrainian government has repeatedly denied any involvement in the September 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.

Polish extradition refusal precedent

• ▪A Polish court in 2025 refused to execute a German arrest warrant for Volodymyr Zhuravlov, ruling that the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines was a justified defensive action by Ukraine.
• ▪German media reported that Volodymyr Zhuravlov escaped Poland in 2024 with assistance from a Ukrainian military attache in Warsaw after German administrative errors in the wanted database.
• ▪Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk publicly opposed the Nord Stream pipelines, stating that the problem was their construction rather than their destruction, and supported refusing Zhuravlov's extradition.

Germany-Russia energy context

• ▪The United States and several allies criticized the Nord Stream pipelines prior to the blasts, warning that they increased European dependence on Russian gas.
• ▪Prior to the September 2022 explosions, Russia had halted gas deliveries through Nord Stream 1, blaming Western sanctions, while European nations accused Russia of weaponizing energy.
• ▪Germany suspended the certification process of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline shortly before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, preventing the pipeline from ever entering service.
• ▪The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were built to carry Russian natural gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea.