Man Accused by Germany of Blowing Up Nord Stream and Released by Poland Gives His First Interview

Volodymyr Zhuravliov, accused by Germany and released by Poland of blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline, gave an interview to Polish journalists in which he spoke about the course of the case and how he ended up in Poland.

The interview was published by the Polish media outlet TVP INFO.

“No, I did not commit any crime on the territory of Germany and I simply did not blow up Nord Stream,” Volodymyr answered the journalist’s question.

According to him, he first learned that he was suspected of blowing up the Russian gas pipeline in 2024. At that time, the Polish Internal Security Agency, together with German law enforcement officers, searched his apartment.

In Poland, he works in the construction industry – “I’m engaged in ventilation, air conditioning; we install, make small objects, apartments” – and diving is his hobby, which he has been doing for thirteen to fifteen years.

“At first it was very basic, then it grew into a very deep one: I dive in caves, it’s very interesting for me – cave diving. Crayfish, all sorts of things; I’m less into fish, more into something else,” he said.

He and his family left for Poland three days before the full-scale invasion, as he realized that a new round in the war was about to begin.

According to him, he did, as he is accused of, briefly return to Ukraine after the invasion began. But since he has three children, he has a deferral from mobilization and the right to leave.

Volodymyr’s lawyer, who was also present at the interview, noted that the German side did not provide any evidence that would suggest the possible commission of the act and the suspicions that came from it.

History of the charges

On September 26, 2022, both Nord Stream gas pipelines were severely damaged by an explosion. Three of the four lines of the pipeline from Russia to Germany were destroyed.

The German side accuses Volodymyr of having participated in the installation of explosive devices on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in September 2022, acting as a diver, in cooperation with other persons.

On September 30, 2025, Volodymyr was detained in Poland. On October 1, the District Court in Warsaw imposed a measure of restraint on him in the form of temporary arrest for a period of 7 days.

On October 17, on Friday, the District Court in Warsaw refused to extradite the suspect to Germany and canceled the temporary arrest.

The judge also made a reference to what should be understood as a just war in his rationale for the decision. He pointed out that Ukraine’s actions in the context of repelling Russian aggression are consistent with this understanding.

“That is why Ukrainian soldiers, as well as persons acting as part of the Armed Forces or on behalf of Ukrainian special forces, cannot be considered terrorists or saboteurs, and such actions against the critical infrastructure of the aggressor country are not sabotage, but rather military actions of a sabotage nature, which under no circumstances can be considered crimes,” the judge said.