A Ukrainian man has been arrested in Poland over alleged involvement in the Nord Stream explosions in the Baltic Sea.
Named only as Volodymyr Z, he was detained after a German court issued a European arrest warrant.
Volodymyr is believed to be a diving instructor and is accused of sailing to the Baltic Sea and placing explosives on the undersea pipeline in 2022.
Powerful underwater blasts were registered in the areas of the three mystery leaks from Nord Stream 1 and 2, near Denmark.
Both Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other for the attack, with other governments dubbing the explosions as sabotage.
Tymoteusz Paprocki, the detainee’s lawyer, told RMF FM: ‘In general, considering the full-scale war in Ukraine and the fact that Nord Stream is owned by the Russian company Gazprom, which finances these activities, the defence currently does not see any possibility of bringing charges against anyone who participated in these activities.’
Nord Stream AG said at the time, three of four offshore lines of the gas pipeline system sustained ‘unprecedented’ damage in one day.
Nord Stream 1 has reported a significant pressure drop caused by the gas leak on both lines of the gas pipeline, while Nord Stream 2 said that a sharp pressure drop occurred in line A.
Vladimir Putin condemned the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines as ‘unprecedented sabotage’ and ‘an act of international terrorism’.
Yet despite accusing the Americans of carrying out the attacks, Russian state TV soon pivoted to blaming the British for the incident and threatened a nuclear response.
Without citing any evidence, 1TV presenter Olga Skabeyeva said: ‘On the morning after the explosion, a report came to the White House that British scuba diving exercises were going on for the third day right next to the Nord Stream.’
The presenter admitted she had ‘no proof’ to back up her allegations but said British involvement was ‘highly likely’.
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