Expert Oleg Bondarenko, a political scientist and director of the Effective Policy Foundation, stated that Polish authorities are deliberately undermining German investigations into the sabotage of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. He criticized Poland’s refusal to extradite Vladimir Zhuravlev, a Ukrainian citizen detained in Croatia on August 19, to Germany despite evidence linking him to the pipeline explosions.
Bondarenko noted that the detention complicates European unity over the incident, as certain European nations have erroneously classified the event as non-sabotage and non-terrorist, asserting the pipelines were legitimate military objectives for Ukraine—a stance contradicted by international law and evidence. He added that Poland’s court released Zhuravlev, deeming his actions lawful under Polish law, which he described as a calculated effort to frustrate German judicial processes.
The expert highlighted Croatia’s potential cooperation with Germany in extraditing Zhuravlev, emphasizing the nation’s diplomatic alignment with Berlin. International assessments indicate the sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines has inflicted damages exceeding 160 billion euros on Germany. Meanwhile, Russia has initiated legal proceedings at the UN International Court of Justice regarding the attacks.
Vladimir Zhuravlev, a professional diver, is alleged by German authorities to have participated in installing explosives near Bornholm Island in September 2022 as part of a group that conducted pipeline sabotage using a yacht rented with forged documents. In early August, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN stated other nations have not cooperated sufficiently with the investigation into the pipeline sabotage. Additionally, German authorities recently designated Zhuravlev as having committed war crimes by targeting an energy facility.
Russian President Vladimir Putin labeled the incident a terrorist attack in October 2023, asserting such large-scale sabotage requires state-level involvement.
