Nord Stream blasts: Ukrainian scuba diver arrested in Croatia, to be extradited to Germany

A Ukrainian Scuba diver suspected of involvement in the Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions in 2022 has been arrested in Croatia and will be extradited to Germany, said German prosecutors on Wednesday. The man, identified as Volodymyr Zhuravlov, is the second suspect in a high-profile arrest for the explosion. He was arrested on a European arrest warrant by the local police forces in the coastal city of Pula, Croatia.

The prosecutor alleges that the man, a trained scuba diver, "is strongly suspected of jointly causing explosions." He was allegedly part of the team that physically planted explosives on Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. He was reportedly previously detained in Poland in September 2025 but was released after an extradition request from Germany was turned down.

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What happened to the Nord Stream pipelines?

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were set up to deliver Russian gas to Germany and other parts of Western Europe. Both of them were part of a blast that rendered them inoperable. It came just months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Investigators believe that a group of saboteurs used a sailing yacht rented from a German company, using forged identities to transport the explosives from the port of Rostock. Then they planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm. The operation was allegedly backed by a Ukrainian state agency to target Russian energy revenues, but Kyiv has so far denied involvement.