Ukrainian diver with alleged links to Nord Stream attack detained in Poland

In Poland, a Ukrainian diver who is suspected of being responsible for the 2022 undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany has been detained.

According to local radio station RMF FM and his attorney, the diver, who was identified as Volodymyr Z under Germany’s privacy laws, was detained on Tuesday near Warsaw, Poland’s capital.

Tymoteusz Paprocki, the attorney, said he would contest his client’s transfer to Germany, where the West and Moscow had begun a probe into the attack.

Russian gas supplies to Europe were largely hampered by the explosions, which marked a significant increase in the conflict in Ukraine and a squeeze on continent’s energy supplies.

No nation has accepted responsibility for the explosion, and Ukraine has denied involvement. However, Russia held the attacks on the United States, Britain, and Ukraine. German investigators discovered a pro-Ukrainian organization in the sabotage in 2023.

German authorities issued a European arrest warrant prior to the diver’s detention.

Due to the conflict in Ukraine, Paprocki argued that an arrest warrant issued by the European Union against him was inadmissible. One of the pipeline’s owners, Gazprom, which directly finances the military operations in Ukraine, is the target of the attack on the Nord Stream infrastructure, he said.

Unnamed sources were cited by German news outlets, including the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit, and the broadcaster ARD, who claimed Volodymyr Z was a member of a team responsible for the explosives’ planting.

A Ukrainian man allegedly coordinating the attacks was detained by Italian police in August, only to be identified as Serhii K. His transfer to Germany was ordered by Italy’s lower court earlier in September.

Serhii K’s defense team stated that it would take his case on appeal to the highest court in Italy, the Supreme Court of Cassation, to stop his extradition.

In a statement, it stated that “fundamental rights like fair trials, detention conditions, and functional immunity cannot be sacrificed in the name of automatic judicial cooperation.”

However, German authorities accuse Serhii K and his accomplices of setting sail from Rostock on the northeastern coast of Germany on a yacht to carry out the pipeline attack.