The Warsaw District Court has remanded a Ukrainian national, suspected by Germany of involvement in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion three years ago, into custody. UNN reports this with reference to RMF24.
Details
The Warsaw District Court ruled that Volodymyr Z., a Ukrainian national suspected by the German justice system of involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion, will be taken into custody for seven days.
The prosecutor's office is expected to receive the relevant documentation, translated into Polish, within a week. After that, investigators will prepare and possibly support a request for Volodymyr's extradition to Germany.
Addition
In Poland, Ukrainian national Volodymyr Z., suspected by Germany of involvement in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion, has been detained.
On Tuesday, Volodymyr was interrogated at the Warsaw District Prosecutor's Office. He pleaded not guilty to the charges brought by the German justice system.
The German Federal Court is seeking the extradition of a Ukrainian national arrested in Poland, who is believed to be a member of a sabotage group that blew up Nord Stream in the Baltic Sea. Investigators claim that he carried out underwater work to install explosives.
Context
Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation. It was built to transport Russian gas across the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Europe, but Germany suspended its certification process in February 2022 due to Moscow's recognition of self-proclaimed republics in eastern Ukraine before its invasion. The Russian government stated that it could be repaired, even though Germany ruled out the possibility of putting it into operation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that Russia hopes Germany will complete its investigation into the explosions, which he said Moscow blames on Kyiv.
German investigators have identified a Ukrainian group of five men and a woman whom they believe to be responsible.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that his government knew nothing about any plans to blow up the pipelines.
German prosecutors said that if the man is extradited, he will be handed over to an investigating judge of the federal court in Karlsruhe. The case has diplomatic repercussions, as Germany provides military and material support to Ukraine against Russia.
Last month, another Ukrainian national, 49-year-old Serhiy Kuznetsov, was arrested in Italy while on vacation on the basis of a European arrest warrant. An Italian court ruled for his extradition to Germany to face charges in the Nord Stream attack case. According to the investigation, Kuznetsov forged documents to rent a yacht through intermediaries, from which the explosions near the Danish island of Bornholm were carried out.
Recall
Earlier, UNN wrote that Volodymyr Z. was detained in Poland on a European arrest warrant issued by Germany, on suspicion of involvement in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosion. German special services believe that he, as a diving instructor, planted explosives on the pipeline in the Baltic Sea in September 2022.