The suspect has been named as Volodymyr Z by German media, who have treated the sabotage like a sensational true crime drama.
Ines Peterson, a spokeswoman for Germany’s prosecutor general, declined to confirm the arrest warrant, telling the BBC that her office never commented so as not to jeopardise the investigation by giving the suspect a chance to escape.
But the Polish prosecutor general's spokeswoman, Anna Adamiak, in Warsaw told the BBC's Adam Easton that a European Arrest Warrant had indeed been passed to them by German prosecutors.
- The German Office of General Prosecutor does not comment on mass media reports about issuance of an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor suspected of being involved in explosions at Nord Stream pipeline, a spokesperson of the office told TASS.
"We usually do not comment on mass media reports and do not comment on arrest warrants," she said, replying to a request for comment on the publication in the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
The Suddeutsche Zeitung reported earlier, citing a joint investigation with ARD television and the Die Zeit newspaper, that the German Office of Federal Prosecutor issued the arrest warrant for the diving instructor. According to the news outlet, this refers to Ukrainian national Vladimir Ts., a diving school employee. He resided in Poland lately, the news outlet said. According to available data, he is now hiding himself. The German Office of General Prosecutor suspects two more Ukrainian diving instructors in being involved in the sabotage act at the Nord Stream pipelines, with a woman among them, the news outlet added.
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According to investigative research by the German news outlets ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit, the German Federal Public Prosecutor is investigating three Ukrainian scuba school teachers for their involvement in the explosions. The evidence against one of them is so strong that an arrest warrant was issued in July.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the suspect seems to have gone into hiding, after apparently living in a town close to Warsaw, Poland. According to the investigative report, he is out of reach of the German authorities.
In a first reaction, a German government spokesperson explained that “the investigation of the Nord Stream sabotage act is a top priority.” However, it was highlighted that the investigation will not impact Germany’s wider relations to Ukraine “because the one has nothing to do with the other.”
Poland has received a European arrest warrant issued by Germany in connection with the 2022 attack on Nord Stream pipelines, but the suspect, a Ukrainian man named as Volodymyr Z, has already left Poland, Polish prosecutors said.
ReplyDeleteHe was able to leave as Germany had failed to include his name in a database of wanted persons, added the prosecutors.
German investigators believe Volodymyr Z, a Ukrainian diver, was part of a team that planted the explosives, the SZ and Die Zeit newspapers reported alongside the ARD broadcaster, citing unnamed sources.
ReplyDeleteGermany said its relationship with Ukraine was not strained by the Nord Stream inquiry.
ReplyDelete"The procedures have no bearing on what the Chancellor (Olaf Scholz) has described as the support of Ukraine's defence against Russia's illegal war of aggression, as long as necessary," the spokesperson added.