According to a report by the Russian Satellite News Agency on August 19, the German Federal Prosecutor's Office stated that on the morning of August 19, another Ukrainian suspect, Vladimir Z, was arrested in Croatia for his suspected involvement in the 2022 'North Stream' natural gas pipeline explosion incident.
The German Federal Prosecutor's Office stated that Vladimir Z and another Ukrainian citizen, Serhii K, were part of the same group. This group installed explosive devices on the North Stream 1 and North Stream 2 natural gas pipelines near Bornholm Island in September 2022. On June 30 this year, the German Federal Prosecutor's Office brought charges against Serhii K at the Higher Regional Court in Hamburg.
In August 2025, the Ukrainian suspect Sergey K was arrested in Italy. German media
On September 26, 2022, two pipelines that transport natural gas from Russia to Europe, ‘North Stream-1’ and ‘North Stream-2’, were damaged simultaneously. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden believe that this could be targeted sabotage.
In August 2025, Sergei K was arrested while on vacation in Italy and transferred to Germany a few months later. Sergei K’s lawyer stated that the German prosecution believes that the sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline was carried out under the instigation of Ukrainian state authorities.
According to a ruling by a German federal court in December 2025, Sergey K was an officer in a special forces unit of the Ukrainian military. He and six accomplices were accused of traveling on a rented sailboat for several weeks, departing from the island of Lüneburg in Germany. Sergey K’s task was to coordinate the actions of the group. After several dives, the group placed four ‘highly destructive explosive devices’ deep beneath the sea, up to 80 meters down. These explosives exploded on September 26, 2022.
According to German media such as ARD, the explosives were homemade. The explosion destroyed three of the four natural gas pipelines involved in the attack, namely "Nord Stream 1" and "Nord Stream 2". German media also claim that the planner of the attack might be former Ukrainian intelligence officer Roman Tscherwinsky. However, Tscherwinsky has denied these accusations.
Just at the end of June this year, after the German Federal Prosecutor's Office filed charges against Sergey K., Ukrainian President Zelenskyy was reluctant to comment on the case. During a press conference while visiting Ireland, he said that he did not know all the details. He believed that the relevant departments in Germany and Ukraine should communicate with each other. "If we get more details, we will definitely respond. It's too early to make statements right now."
