Poland received a European arrest warrant from Germany for a suspect involved in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline attack, but the suspect had already left Poland due to a bureaucratic oversight, Reuters reports.
The suspect, Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlov, had already crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border in early July, despite the arrest warrant being sent to Warsaw in June. This was because German authorities failed to include his name in a wanted persons database, preventing the Polish Border Guard from detaining him. German investigators believe a team, including Volodymyr Z., planted the explosives. Two other Ukrainian diving instructors are also under investigation but have not had arrest warrants issued against them.
The Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by explosions in September 2022, seven months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The explosions destroyed three of four pipelines, with Russia accusing the US, UK, and Ukraine, all of whom deny involvement.
Multiple countries, including Germany, Denmark, and Sweden, launched investigations, with Sweden finding evidence of deliberate sabotage. However, Swedish and Danish probes were closed without identifying suspects. Germany’s investigation continues and linked a ship suspected of transporting the explosives used in the sabotage in January 2023.
