Polish authorities let suspected Nord Stream saboteur slip away

For two weeks, Polish authorities did not detain Volodymyr Z., a diver who, according to German investigators, is behind the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines. During this time, only "operational activities" were conducted. Z. left for Ukraine at the beginning of July.

The German Federal Prosecutor's Office issued an arrest warrant for Volodymyr Z. He is a Ukrainian diver who, according to investigators, participated in blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines.

According to German investigators, Volodymyr Z., along with Yevgen and Svitlana U., set sail at the beginning of September 2022 from the port of Rostock on the yacht Andromeda and planted explosive charges on the pipelines.

Volodymyr Z.'s last known residence was Pruszków, near Warsaw. For this reason, on June 21, the Germans requested Polish investigators to detain him and extradite him. The European Arrest Warrant was registered after three days. But on July 6, Volodymyr Z. left Poland for Ukraine. He was not detained because German investigators did not enter the European Arrest Warrant into the Schengen Information System. It is unclear why the Germans did not do so.

So what did Polish investigators do during the two-week period? The authorities undertook "operational activities".

"Detention activities were not undertaken; operational activities were ordered, the status of which is confidential," stated Piotr Skiba, a spokesperson for the Warsaw prosecutor's office.

He added that operational activities precede the act of detention. The whole operation was, therefore, aimed at the "safe execution of the EAW."

One of the" sources within the authorities does not rule out that Volodymyr Z. was not at the indicated address in Pruszków. The location was, therefore, under surveillance, and attempts were made to locate him in Poland.

The Polish prosecutor's office is conducting its own investigation into the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines. So far, their findings do not confirm the "Ukrainian" lead but point more towards a "Russian" one. For now, however, no charges have been brought against anyone.

Investigators are also investigating the divers from the yacht Andromeda, which docked in Kołobrzeg. The expedition participants were said to have shown Bulgarian passports, which the prosecutor's office is checking for fakes.

The German prosecutor's office has not requested the detention of Yevgen and Svitlana U., the remaining divers from Kyiv.