Almost three years after the sabotage of the Russian North Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, a Ukrainian suspected of being one of the commando coordinators was arrested on Thursday in Italy.
This is the first arrest in this mysterious affair, particularly sensitive because of the war in Ukraine, attacked since February 2022 by Russia.
In a statement released Thursday, the German federal prosecutor’s office specializing in terrorism affairs, announced that it had “arrested on the basis of a European arrest warrant from the Ukrainian citizen Serhii K., by Italian police in the province of Rimini (Italy)”.
“Serhii K. was part of a group of people who, in September 2022, placed explosives on the” Nord Stream 1 ‘and “Nord Stream 2’ 2 ‘island (Danish, editor’s note) gas pipelines,” he added.
It is “probably one of the coordinators of the operation” of sabotage, he underlined.
The 49 -year -old suspect had been staying with his family for a few days in San Clemente, a village near Rimini, a large seaside resort of the Adriatic Sea, the Italian authorities said.
“The gendarmes launched a raid on the bungalow where he was and was arrested without opposing resistance,” they said.
Several suspected states
During a brief press briefing in Berlin, the German Minister of Justice, Stefanie Hubig, rented the “very impressive success” of the prosecution.
Questioned on the consequences of this arrest for German-Ukrainian relations, the minister reaffirmed Berlin’s solidarity in kyiv, of which he is one of the most fervent allies.
On September 26, 2022, four huge gas leaks preceded by underwater explosions had taken place a few hours apart on North Stream 1 and 2, pipes connecting Russia to Germany and transporting most of the Russian gas to Europe.
At that time, Moscow had ceased to deliver gas via Nord Stream 1, against a backdrop of iron with European kyiv allied countries. As for the twin northern stream 2 gas pipeline, a contention apple between Berlin and Washington for years, it had never entered service.
Since sabotage, judicial investigations had been launched separately by Germany, Sweden and Denmark. They were closed in the two Scandinavian countries in 2024.
Many tracks have been mentioned, still in the background, the hypothesis that a state could be the sponsor of the operation.
Both Ukraine and Russia and the United States have always vigorously denied any involvement.
Sailboat rented with false papers
In its press release published Thursday, the German federal prosecutor’s office says that Serhii K. and its accomplices “used a sailboat (…) from Rostock (German port on the Baltic)”.
“The sailboat had been rented to a German company using false identity papers through intermediaries,” continues the prosecution.
“The explosives had detonated on September 26, 2022. The explosions seriously damaged the two gas pipelines,” said the prosecution.
After his transfer by the Italian authorities to Germany, the Ukrainian suspect must be presented to the judge of the German Federal Court.
A year ago, several German media, the public television channel Ard and the newspapers Die Zeit and Süddeutsche Zeitung had revealed that the investigation was moving towards a Ukrainian track, with an arrest warrant for German justice against a professional diver suspected of being involved in sabotage with two other of his compatriots.
This diver, appointed as Volodymyr Z. by the German media, lived in Poland, but had been able to escape in Ukraine before his arrest.
One day after the revelations of the German press, the Wall Street Journal said that the former Ukrainian staff chief Valery Zaloujny had supervised the plan aimed at blowing up the pipelines. An “absolute nonsense” reacted the Ukrainian presidency on August 15, 2024. As for Moscow, he had “clear” four days later that the operation was ordered by Washington.