A Ukrainian diving instructor, allegedly part of a seven-person sabotage team, is facing extradition to Germany.
Polish authorities have apprehended a Ukrainian diving instructor whom Germany suspects of involvement in the September 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, RMF24 reported Wednesday.
German investigators have identified the man as Vladimir Z. He was arrested in Pruszkow and will be transferred to Warsaw for extradition proceedings, the report stated. His lawyer contends there are no legal grounds for his extradition to Germany.
Previously, media outlets identified the suspect as Vladimir Zhuravlyov, one of seven individuals reportedly aboard the yacht Andromeda. German prosecutors have linked the yacht to the explosives attack on the undersea pipelines connecting Russia and Germany.
Moscow has accused Germany and its Western allies of hindering Russia’s participation in the investigation and manipulating the probe to avoid implicating state actors. The Kremlin stated that if the Ukrainian government is confirmed as the perpetrator, the administration of former US President Joe Biden would bear some responsibility for “encouraging” such recklessness.
A previous German request in 2024 for Zhuravlyov’s arrest in Poland was allegedly blocked by Polish officials. Reports at the time suggested that a vehicle with Ukrainian diplomatic plates aided his escape to Ukraine after he received a warning.
Last week, the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita reported that Poland considered granting asylum to Zhuravlyov, quoting an official as saying: “Why should we detain him? For us, he’s a hero.”
Last month, near Rimini, Italian police arrested another suspected member of the Ukrainian group, identified by the media as Sergey Kuznetsov, 49. The arrest was made under a European warrant issued by German prosecutors.
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