No Extradition: Polish Court Refuses to Extradite Ukrainian National to Germany in Nord Stream Case

The Warsaw District Court has decided not to extradite to Germany a Ukrainian citizen suspected by German law enforcement of involvement in the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

According to Radio Liberty, the court also ruled to release the Ukrainian from custody.

The detainee’s lawyer, Tymoteusz Paprocki, said that the court rejected all the evidence presented by the prosecution in the case of Volodymyr Z.

“No citizen of Ukraine can be accused or convicted for any actions against Russia,” Paprocki emphasized, commenting on the court’s decision.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk supported the court’s decision. In a post on social media, he said: “Polish court denied extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian national suspected of blowing up Nord Stream 2 and released him from custody. And rightly so. The case is closed.”

Earlier, Tusk emphasized that Poland does not intend to hand over the Ukrainian to Germany, which is seeking his extradition on suspicion of involvement in the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

The detention of the Ukrainian citizen in Poland became known in late September. He was linked to the investigation of the explosions at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The suspect himself denies any involvement in the explosion and claims that he was in Ukraine at the time of the incident.

This is the second time a Ukrainian has been arrested in connection with the gas pipeline explosions, following the detention of another citizen in Italy last month.

Earlier, German publications Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and ARD reported that the investigation had identified all members of the so-called “sabotage group” and that they were all Ukrainian citizens.

According to these publications, Germany has identified seven people who carried out the 2022 gas pipeline bombing. Among them are four divers, one of whom is a Ukrainian record holder for deep-sea diving. The group also included an explosives specialist, a skipper, and a coordinator.

German authorities issued six arrest warrants. The seventh suspect is a Ukrainian serviceman who was trained in Germany and, according to media reports, died at the front in Ukraine.

German prosecutors emphasize that the Nord Stream explosions constitute a serious attack on the country’s energy infrastructure, regardless of the political motives of the organizers.

The explosions occurred in September 2022 near the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. Three of the four lines of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were damaged.

The pipeline, designed to supply Russian gas to Western Europe, has suffered such significant damage that its operation is virtually impossible.

Investigations by Sweden, Denmark, and Germany have confirmed that the pipeline was blown up deliberately, but there are no final conclusions about the guilty parties.

Russia is not participating in the international investigation. Moscow blames the United States and its allies for the explosions, while Western countries reject such accusations.

A number of Western media outlets suggest that the sabotage could have been organized by people connected to the Ukrainian security services. Kyiv categorically denies any involvement.

The Nord Stream gas pipelines are subject to EU sanctions, as EU countries view them as a potential tool for Moscow’s political pressure on Europe.