Croatia orders detention of Ukrainian man wanted in Germany for Nord Stream blasts in 2022

ZAGREB, Croatia -- A Croatian judge on Thursday ordered the detention of a Ukrainian man who is wanted in Germany in connection with the 2022 undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines, his lawyer said.

The man was arrested on a European warrant in the northern Croatian town of Pula on Wednesday. He was questioned on Thursday by prosecutors who requested the detention pending extradition proceedings, the state HRT television reported.

The man's lawyer, Matija Milos, said that they would appeal the detention order, the HINA news agency reported. It wasn't immediately clear how long the extradition proceedings in Croatia could last.

The German prosecutors have said that the suspect was a “trained scuba diver” who belonged to a group of people who “planted explosives” on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm.

The undersea explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, damaged the pipelines, which had been built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The damage added to tensions over the Russia-Ukraine war as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.

The German prosecutor’s office identified the suspect only as Vladimir Z. A spokesperson, however, confirmed to The Associated Press that it was the same man who was arrested in Poland last year, but was later released when a Polish court refused to extradite him to Germany. Polish authorities identified him as Volodymyr Zhuravlov.

Poland has long opposed the Nord Stream pipelines, viewing them as an attempt by Russia to use its vast energy resources to gain leverage across Europe.

Last month, German federal prosecutors filed charges against a former Ukrainian army officer in connection with the same explosions.

Serhii K. was detained in August 2025 in an Italian village, where officers raided a bungalow where he was staying with his family. He was extradited to Germany in November.

The suspects allegedly used a yacht that set off from the German port of Rostock. The yacht had been rented from a German company using forged IDs and intermediaries.

The explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia’s main natural gas supply route to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies in August 2022. They also damaged Nord Stream 2, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia’s all-out invasion.

Initially, some officials in the West suspected that Russia might have carried out the explosions. But German investigators later pointed to suspected Ukrainian involvement.

Russia has accused the U.S. of staging the explosions, a charge that Washington has denied. The pipelines were long a target of criticism by the U.S. and some of its allies, which warned that they increased dependence on Russian gas.