Berlin — A Ukrainian suspect has been arrested in Italy over the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream fuel pipelines from Russia to Europe, German prosecutors mentioned Thursday. The suspect, partially named as Serhii Okay., is accused of being a part of a bunch “who positioned explosive units on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 fuel pipelines,” the prosecutors mentioned.
He’s “believed to have been one of many coordinators of the operation,” they added.
The Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea have been broken in September 2022 by large underwater explosions, believed to be an act of sabotage.
Within the years because the mysterious explosions, Ukraine and Russia have each vehemently denied any involvement.
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German media have reported the investigation pointed to a Ukrainian cell of 5 males and one lady who had chartered the yacht “Andromeda” from the port of Rostock and carried out the assault.
Their intention was to destroy the pipelines to stop battlefield enemy Russia from profiting in future from fuel gross sales to Europe, in accordance with Der Spiegel and different media.
Serhii Okay. was arrested within the early hours of Thursday within the Italian province of Rimini, the German prosecutors mentioned. He and his accomplices are accused of utilizing a yacht that departed Rostock to hold out the assault, they mentioned.
“The yacht had beforehand been rented from a German firm with the assistance of solid id paperwork obtained by way of intermediaries,” they added.
The information of the arrest comes about one yr after German media reported {that a} European arrest warrant had been requested for an additional Ukrainian man, a diving teacher whose final recognized handle was in Poland, in reference to the assault on the Nord Stream pipelines.
The Polish prosecutor’s workplace advised AFP in August 2024 that it had obtained the warrant for the person — recognized solely as “Volodymyr Z.” — a pair months earlier “in reference to proceedings in opposition to him in Germany.”
The person left for Ukraine in the beginning of July 2024, earlier than he might be detained, the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned on the time.
German investigators imagine Volodymyr Z. was one of many divers who planted explosive units on the pipelines, in accordance with Germany’s ARD broadcaster and newspapers Die Zeit and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Two extra Ukrainians, a person and a girl who prosecutors imagine acted as divers within the assaults and are believed to be a married couple who run a diving college in Ukraine, have been additionally recognized by investigators at the least a yr in the past, in accordance with the Germany experiences.
The arrest introduced by the German authorities on Thursday was the primary linked to the case.
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