Nord Stream: Second suspect arrested over pipeline blasts

BREAKING: German prosecutors arrest a second suspect over the Nord Stream pipeline blasts \u2014 a Ukrainian trained scuba diver detained in Croatia, 'strongly suspected of jointly causing explosions.'

German prosecutors just arrested a second man over the Nord Stream blasts.

His name is given as Vladimir Z, a Ukrainian national and a trained scuba diver, and Croatian police picked him up in the coastal city of Pula on a European arrest warrant. The Federal Prosecutor's Office says he's strongly suspected of jointly causing explosions. That's careful legal language for one of the biggest acts of sabotage Europe has seen in decades.

Quick refresher. In September 2022, months into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, blasts on the Baltic seabed knocked out both Nord Stream pipelines, the ones built to carry Russian gas to Germany. You'll remember the images of the sea boiling above the leak. Another Ukrainian suspect was already arrested in Italy last year.

And here's the uncomfortable part. Berlin believes the sabotage was ordered by Ukrainian state entities. Kyiv denies it. Germany is now prosecuting citizens of the country it's spent four years arming.

This is Sara White, reporting for HIT.

Source Read the original reporting at dw.com