BERLIN – German prosecutors have issued the first arrest warrant in the investigation into the 2022 deep-sea explosion that damaged the Nord Stream pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany, German media reported on Wednesday.
Prosecutors in Poland say they have obtained an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian suspect, but add that he fled the country before being arrested.
German public broadcaster ARD, daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung and weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported in a joint article that state prosecutors had issued an arrest warrant in June for a Ukrainian national believed to have been living in Poland recently. In the media report, which did not cite sources, this person was identified as Wolodymyr Z.
The German attorney general's office said it does not comment on media reports or arrest warrants.
But Poland's national prosecutor's office confirmed that district prosecutors in Warsaw had obtained a European arrest warrant for Ukrainian national Wolodymyr Z. from German authorities in June, without giving details of the charges.
Officials said authorities have been unable to arrest him since he crossed the border from Poland into Ukraine in early July.
The explosions on September 26, 2022 damaged the pipelines, which were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The damage from the explosion escalated tensions over the war in Ukraine as European states took steps to cut off supplies from Russian energy sources. Who was responsible for this act of sabotage still remains a mystery, and so far investigators have not released any details about their findings.
Swedish and Danish authorities closed their investigations in February, leaving German prosecutors alone to continue investigating the incident.
The explosions came as Europe was scrambling to cut off Russian energy supplies following the Kremlin's large-scale attack on Ukraine. They damaged the pipelines of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which was the main natural gas supply route from Russia to Germany until August 2022, when Russia cut off the supply.
The explosions also damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which was never put into operation because Germany suspended the certification process shortly after Russia attacked Ukraine in February of that year.
Russia has accused the United States of staging the blasts, a charge Washington denies. The pipelines had been criticized by the United States and some of its allies for a long time. They warned that the pipeline posed a risk to European energy security due to its heavy dependence on Russian gas.
In March 2023, German media reported that a pro-Ukraine group was involved in the sabotage. Ukraine has rejected claims that it may have ordered the attack, and German officials have been tight-lipped about the allegations.
Last year, officials said investigations had found traces of explosive material in samples taken from a yacht that had been searched as part of the investigation.
German government spokesman Wolfgang Buchner would not comment on the arrest warrant, referring to state prosecutors. But he said that clarifying this event remains “the main priority.”
