German Prosecutor General Jens Rommel secured the first arrest warrant for a Ukrainian suspect in the Nord Stream pipeline bombing, following an investigation by ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), and Die Zeit.
Almost two years after the Nord Stream pipeline explosions in the Baltic Sea, the Attorney General has managed to obtain a warrant. According to the information, from various sources, the suspect is Ukrainian Volodymyr Z. reportedly seen in Poland.
According to the investigation, two other Ukrainian nationals, including a woman, are also considered suspects. They were allegedly involved in the bombing, possibly as divers attaching explosive charges to the pipelines. Information about the other suspects is based on evidence provided by foreign intelligence, according to Tagesschau.
A previous investigation revealed that the alleged bombers allegedly sailed in the Baltic Sea in September 2022 on a German sailing yacht Andromeda.
An arrest warrant was granted in June. Investigators from the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA, Federal Criminal Police Office) and the Bundespolizei (Federal Police) have made a breakthrough in one of the most impressive prosecutions over decades. Although Sweden and Denmark had already dropped the probe into the case earlier that year, the attorney general continued the trial on suspicion of “intentional infliction of serious health damage” as well as “anti-constitutional sabotage.”
Disputes over Nord Stream
In early February, US journalist Seymour Hersh said, citing a source, that the pipeline explosions were ordered by President Joe Biden and that US Navy divers were assisting the bombers.
In March, US Department of State spokesman Ned Price stated that the US was waiting for the investigations to be completed and was ready to consider all possible versions. However, prior to the outbreak of war in Ukraine, in January 2022, he declared that the US would assist in ending co-operation between Germany and Russia on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, according to Reuters.
I’m not going to get into the specifics. We will work with Germany to ensure it [Nord Stream 2] does not move forward.
Meanwhile, Russian officials are still trying to actively highlight the Nord Stream explosions. In late April, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya stated that the international community still lacked details of the Nord Stream investigation.
This event undoubtedly constituted a direct threat to international peace and security. The use of explosive devices against a seabed gas infrastructure worth some $17 billion caused critical damage to the pipeline, had serious environmental effects and posed a clear danger to navigation in that part of the Baltic Sea.
Nebenzya also noted that the US and its allies did not delay the investigation when it was to their advantage. Meanwhile, the US declined to comment on the pipeline explosion incident.
The protracted investigation into the Nord Stream explosion has given grounds for all sorts of narratives. Please read our analysis in the context of the media confrontation between Russia and the West, including the involvement of Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, in the scheming with Ukrainian firms.
