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German prosecutors have issued a first arrest warrant in their investigation into the undersea explosions in 2022 that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, according to a media report Wednesday. German authorities refused to comment.
German public broadcaster ARD, the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the weekly Die Zeit said in a joint report that federal prosecutors obtained an arrest warrant in June against a Ukrainian man believed to have resided until recently in Poland. The reports, which did not cite sources, identified the man as Wolodymyr Z.
The federal prosecutor's office said it doesn't comment on media reports or on arrest warrants.
Explosions on Sept, 26, 2022, damaged the pipelines, which were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The damage added to tensions over the war in Ukraine as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources. Who was responsible for the sabotage remains a mystery and investigators have been tight-lipped about their findings so far.
Swedish and Danish authorities closed their investigations in February, leaving the German prosecutors' case as the sole probe.
The blasts happened as Europe attempted to wean itself off Russian energy sources following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia’s main natural gas supply route to Germany until Russia cut off supplies at the end of August 2022.
They also damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February of that year.
Russia has accused the U.S. of staging the explosions, a charge Washington denies. The pipelines were long a target of criticism by the U.S. and some of its allies, who warned that they posed a risk to Europe’s energy security by increasing dependence on Russian gas.
In March 2023, German media reported that a pro-Ukraine group was involved in the sabotage. Ukraine rejected suggestions it might have ordered the attack and German officials voiced caution over the accusation.
Officials said last year that investigators found traces of undersea explosives in samples taken from a yacht that was searched as part of the probe.
