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The first warrant related to the attempt on Nord Stream

2024-08-15 14:56:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

German government: The results so far of the investigations related to the assassination against Nord Stream do not change anything in the aid that Germany gives to Ukraine. The General Prosecutor's Office issued the first arrest warrant yesterday.

The spokesman of the German government, Wolfgang Büchner, emphasized on Wednesday that the results of the investigations related to the Nord Stream attack do not change the aid that Germany gives to Ukraine. This changes "nothing about the fact that Russia launched a war in violation of international law against Ukraine," Büchner said.

Almost two years after the bombings against the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, German Attorney General Jens Rommel has issued the first arrest warrant against a suspect. According to ARD television, Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, SZ and Die Zeit, it is about a Ukrainian named Volodymyr Z., who recently stayed in Poland. Two other Ukrainian citizens, among them a woman, are among the suspects. According to the data, they took part in the assassination, probably as divers, and provided the explosive substance in the gas pipeline. Information about suspected persons is based on data from the information service of another country. As it has been announced, these persons, according to the investigations, in September 2022 were moving on a sailing yacht "Andromeda" in the Baltic Sea.

The investigators of the Office of Criminal Investigation, BKA and the Federal Police seem with this step to have succeeded in one of the most spectacular investigative procedures of the last decades in Germany. At a time when Sweden and Denmark closed their investigations into the case at the beginning of the year, the German Prosecutor General's Office continued its investigations. According to media reports, investigators have apparently gathered enough evidence to obtain an arrest warrant in Federal Court.

The location of the suspect is unknown

According to the data of ARD, SZ and Die Zeit, the German investigators were of the opinion that Mr. Volodymyr has recently stayed in the suburbs of Warsaw. But currently the Ukrainian is completely underground. It is not known whether he has crossed over to Ukraine. In a short phone call, Mr. was surprised by the accusations and denied participation in the assassination attempt against Nord Stream.

There has been no response from the Polish side regarding the legal requirements of the German side. It is also not known why the Polish authorities did not arrest Mr. Volodymyr. According to the common regulations of European arrest warrants, which Germany and Poland respect, an arrest was expected within 60 days from the Polish side. This term has expired in the meantime.

On September 26, 2022, three of the four lines of both lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline were destroyed at a depth of about 80 meters on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Through the two Nord Stream pipelines, a large part of Russian gas passed directly to Germany for years. Many Eastern and Western countries had criticized this project, warning of the geopolitical consequences of the exclusion of Eastern Europe.

As a result of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and other clashes with the West, Moscow had suspended supplies through Nord Stream 1 since before the assassination. However, the Nord Stream 2 conductors were not put into operation due to political clashes.

No direct connection to the Ukrainian state

It is unclear whether certain points of the Ukrainian authorities helped in the preparation and implementation of the act of sabotage. In the arrest warrant issued and the investigations carried out, no direct links with the Ukrainian army or the secret services were found. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has rejected any involvement of his country in the assassination attempt against the gas pipeline. In the spring, the head of the Ukrainian information service, Kyrylo Budanov, told ARD that "I am more than sure that none of the officials in Ukraine has anything to do with this"./ DW