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A 2022 photo shows gas bubbling up from damage to the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which carried Russian gas to Europe.
WARSAW - Poland has arrested a Ukrainian man targeted by a German warrant for his alleged involvement in the 2022 bombing of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, prosecutors and his lawyer said on Sept 30.
Lawyer Tymoteusz Paprocki confirmed the arrest of his Ukrainian client, but did not identify him by name.
“In the morning hours, my client was detained in one of the towns near Warsaw as a result of a European Arrest Warrant, which was issued by the German side and pertains to matters related to Nord Stream 2,” he told broadcaster TVN24.
Polish media reports named the suspect as Volodymyr Z, not giving his complete last name.
“I confirm that he has been arrested. Procedures are under way,” Warsaw regional prosecutor’s office spokesman Piotr Skiba told AFP, without identifying the suspect.
Mr Paprocki argued that, given that Russia is at war with Ukraine and that the pipeline could be said to finance Moscow’s war effort, the defence would argue no Ukrainian should be held criminally responsible for destroying it.
Earlier this month, an Italian court ordered that another Ukrainian – 49-year-old Serhii Kuznietsov – arrested over the sabotage should be extradited to Germany to face charges.
The pipelines, which for years had shipped Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Europe, were damaged by huge blasts just months after Russia’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
While some in the West were quick to accuse Russia of carrying out the attack, German investigators now believe they have identified a Ukrainian cell of five men and one woman as the perpetrators.
When he was arrested, German prosecutors said Kuznietsov had used forged identity documents to charter a yacht, which departed from the German city of Rostock to carry out the attacks. AFP
[SRC] https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/poland-arrests-ukrainian-suspect-in-nord-stream-sabotage
