Court in Croatia Authorizes Extradition of Ukrainian to Germany in Nord Stream Case

The District Court of Pula, Croatia, has authorized the extradition of Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlyov to Germany in connection with the case involving the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.

This is stated in the court’s decision, which was obtained by Suspilne.

A panel of judges issued the extradition ruling on September 18 but notified the parties in writing five days later.

According to Zhuravlyov’s Ukrainian attorney, Mykola Katerynchuk, the court’s decision is biased and politically motivated, so the defense will file an appeal.

Germany sent Croatia two requests for Zhuravlyov’s extradition based on European arrest warrants issued in June 2024 and August 2026.

In the first request, the Ukrainian’s actions were classified as unconstitutional sabotage and destruction of buildings, and in the second — as a war crime involving damage to civilian objects.

In Germany, the Ukrainian suspect faces up to 15 years in prison.

Zhuravlyov himself and his defense team insisted on the rejection of the requests, citing the decision of the Warsaw District Court, which in October 2025 denied Germany’s request for his extradition.

At that time, the Polish court questioned the applicability of German law to the explosions in international waters and noted that the case should be considered in the context of Russian aggression. However, the Croatian court rejected these arguments, stating that the Polish court’s decision is not binding on Croatia.

According to the German investigation, Vladimir Zhuravlyov was one of four divers who planted explosives on the pipelines near the island of Bornholm in September 2022.

He was detained on August 19, 2026, in Croatia, where he had flown to participate as a consultant in the filming of a feature film about the sabotage of the gas pipelines.

It should be noted that Germany is also seeking to have Ukrainian citizen Sergei Kuznetsov confess his involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines.