FRANKFURT Aug 19, 2026 – German federal prosecutors announced on Wednesday that a second Ukrainian suspect has been arrested in connection with the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
The man, identified only as Vladimir Z. under German privacy rules, is a trained scuba diver. He was detained by Croatian police in the coastal city of Pula acting on a European arrest warrant. Prosecutors said he will be extradited to Germany.
According to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, Vladimir Z. belonged to a group led by another Ukrainian national, Serhii K., that planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022. The suspect is “strongly suspected of jointly causing explosions, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of buildings and structures.”
Serhii K., a former Ukrainian army officer, was charged last month with involvement in the same attacks. Prosecutors allege the group used a rented sailing yacht that departed from Rostock, Germany, to carry out the operation.
The undersea blasts on September 26, 2022, ruptured three of the four pipeline strings that were designed to transport Russian natural gas to Germany and other European countries. Nord Stream 1 had been a major supply route until Russia halted deliveries earlier that year; Nord Stream 2 never entered commercial service.
Russia and Western governments have described the explosions as an act of sabotage. German investigators say the aim was to permanently disrupt gas deliveries and prevent Moscow from using energy revenues to fund its military operations in Ukraine.
The arrest marks the latest development in Germany’s ongoing investigation into one of the most significant infrastructure attacks in recent European history. Vladimir Z. is expected to appear before an investigating judge at Germany’s Federal Court of Justice once extradited.
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