Almost two years after the explosion of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, on September 26, 2022, the German public prosecutor's office issued for the first time an arrest warrant against one of the members of the commando that sabotaged the double pipeline connecting Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. But, according to a joint investigation by several German media outlets (public broadcaster ARD, the daily South German newspaper and the weekly The Time), published on Wednesday, August 14, the suspect, Volodymyr Z., a Ukrainian who had found refuge in Poland, escaped investigators, probably helped by the lack of diligence shown by the Warsaw authorities in getting their hands on him.
Two other people, a man and his wife, also of Ukrainian nationality, were reportedly identified by investigators as members of the commando that allegedly dived to the bottom of the Baltic, not far from the Danish island of Bornholm and the coast of southern Sweden. The couple runs a diving school in Ukraine where Volodymyr Z. was an instructor.
The wife, Switlana U., is a member of various Telegram groups that are engaged in helping war refugees from Ukraine, including in Germany. Through her activity on social networks, she allegedly raised funds in March 2022 to purchase a special pair of thermal imaging binoculars worth 4,500 euros, apparently intended for the Ukrainian army. “Dear friends, let us continue to help our men on the front lines of this war.”she wrote on Facebook.
Identifying a van
While Sweden and Denmark closed their own investigations without any prosecutions earlier this year, German Attorney General Jens Rommel decided to continue the investigation. According to information published on Wednesday, he was able to gather enough evidence in recent months to issue a European arrest warrant for Volodymyr Z. in early June. He then made a request for his surrender to Polish authorities, as German investigators located the suspect as living in a town west of Warsaw.
Under the rules of European mutual legal assistance, the Polish authorities had sixty days to respond to Berlin's request and arrest the person. However, according to the ARD investigation, South German newspaper and of The time, The German authorities have not received a response from their Polish interlocutors.
A white van, flashed on the northern German island of Rügen on September 8, 2022, three weeks before the explosion, is believed to have played an important role in identifying the suspect. The vehicle is suspected of having been used to transport diving equipment that was then loaded onto a recreational sailboat, theAndromeda, to transport the commando members to the scene of the explosion. When questioned by the German police, the driver of the van admitted to having transported a group of people from Ukraine to Germany. He then identified Volodymyr Z. as one of the passengers from the photos submitted to him by the investigators.
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Source: Lemonde
