Dpa and Ap

The newspaper La Jornada
Thursday, August 15, 2024, p. 25

Berlin. German prosecutors have issued the first arrest warrant against a Ukrainian citizen in their investigation into the 2022 underwater explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, several media outlets reported yesterday.

The suspect, identified as Volodymir Z, had most recently resided in Poland.

Polish prosecutors have confirmed that district prosecutors in Warsaw received an arrest warrant from German authorities in June against Ukrainian citizen Volodymir Z, without specifying what he was charged with.

He added that the arrest was not carried out because the individual had crossed the border from Poland into Ukraine in early July.

The explosions on September 26, 2022, damaged pipelines that had been built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The damage heightened tensions surrounding the war in Ukraine as European countries reduced their reliance on Russian energy sources. The identity of the perpetrator remains a mystery, and investigators have not revealed details of their investigation so far.

Swedish and Danish authorities closed their investigations in February, leaving the German prosecutors’ case as the only one still open.

The blasts occurred as Europe sought to wean itself off Russian energy sources following the invasion of Ukraine. They blew up the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, which was Russia’s main natural gas supply route to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies in late August 2022.

They also damaged Nord Stream 2, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February of that year.

Russia has accused the United States of orchestrating the blasts, something Washington denies.