[Article publié le mercredi 14 août 2024 à 11h06 et mis à jour à 12h15] Is the case of the sabotage in September 2022 of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea about to become clearer? The German justice system has issued a European arrest warrant against a Ukrainian suspected of being linked to this sabotage, several German media outlets reported on Wednesday. Information confirmed by the Polish prosecutor’s office.
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In fact, the European arrest warrant was issued in June by the federal prosecutor’s office. It targets a Ukrainian diving instructor who was then living in Poland, not far from Warsaw, Volodymyr Z, according to the public television channel ARD and newspapers. South German Times et The time. But the Polish parquet floor
The judiciary suspects him of having been involved, along with two other Ukrainian divers, presented as Jevhen U. and Svitlana U., in the sabotage and the planting of explosives deep on the gas pipeline, they add. The trio is said to have planted the explosives on board a sailboat, the ” Andromeda “, about which the public prosecutor revealed in 2023 that they had opened an investigation. According to investigators, this sailboat left Rostock in Germany on the Baltic Sea, then stopped off at a Danish island, in Sweden and in Poland.
Asked by AFP, the German federal prosecutor’s office, in charge of one of the aspects of the investigation into this attack, did not wish to comment.
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The suspect is said to have fled
Under the rules of European mutual legal assistance, the Polish authorities had 60 days to respond to the German request and arrest this person. However, this was not done, again according to German media, for unexplained reasons. The suspect now appears to have fled, with the Polish prosecutor’s office indicating that the person concerned was able to return to Ukraine in early July without being troubled by the authorities.
For his part, the suspect, briefly contacted by telephone by the German media, denied any involvement in the attack. According to the latter, no evidence at this stage indicates that this diver and his two alleged accomplices – against whom an arrest warrant has not yet been issued – acted on the orders of the authorities of their country, secret service or army. kyiv denies any responsibility for this sabotage.
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Investigations closed in Sweden and Denmark
As a reminder, on September 26, 2022, four huge gas leaks preceded by underwater explosions occurred a few hours apart on Nord Stream 1 and 2, pipelines connecting Russia to Germany and carrying most of Russian gas to Europe.
The pipelines were not in operation at the time of the leaks. In fact, Moscow had already stopped delivering gas via Nord Stream 1, amid an energy standoff with European countries supporting Ukraine – the Russian offensive having been launched in February 2022. As for Nord Stream 2, it never entered service. The explosions occurred near the Danish island of Bornholm, but outside Danish territorial waters. Although out of service at the time of the events, the two pipelines nevertheless contained significant quantities of methane.
Denmark had already stopped investigating the case earlier this year, saying it did not ” have the necessary basics ” for prosecution. In Sweden, the public prosecutor’s office also closed its investigations without any prosecution, judging that the facts were not within its jurisdiction. Only German investigators continued their searches targeting in particular the Ukrainian diver.
Court decisions criticized by Russia, which accuses Ukraine of being behind the incident. The situation is close to absurd. On the one hand, they acknowledge that deliberate sabotage took place, but on the other hand, they are not moving forward. “, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had lamented to the press at the beginning of the year. He had previously described it as ” outstanding “Sweden’s decision to close its investigation.” It will be interesting to see how rigorously the German authorities approach this investigation. ” he said at the beginning of February.
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Multiple theories
In recent years, several investigative media have tried to elucidate the springs of a technically ultra-complex operation, by calling on reconstruction expeditions, some with underwater drones, experts, former secret agents and leads leading from Warsaw to Crimea via Moldova.
Based on information obtained by US intelligence, the New York Times had attributed the sabotage in March 2023 to a “ pro-Ukrainian group “, but without the involvement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Data collected by US intelligence services suggested that the perpetrators behind the sabotage of the two gas pipelines were ” opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin ” wrote the New York Times. After the publication of the investigation by the American daily, the Ukrainian president repeatedly denied that his country could be involved. I would never do that ” he told the German daily newspaper last June. Bildadding that he ” would like to see evidence ».
Another Danish Daily Investigation Information had claimed, with photographs to support his claim, that a ship of the Russian naval forces, specialized in underwater operations, was sailing near the scene of the sabotage, shortly before the explosions.
Other theories blame the United States or Russia for the sabotage. The two nations have even blamed each other. While the real perpetrators of the sabotage remain unknown to this day, the Swedish investigation strongly suspected the action of a state, not an independent group. But the mystery remains.
(With AFP)
