Russia demands accountability as Nord Stream bombing suspect escapes

The Russian authorities have lodged a complaint with the German government concerning the investigation into the 2022 bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines after the main suspect avoided arrest in Poland, Reuters reported on Monday, citing the RIA Novosti agency.

German media reported last week that German prosecutors identified a Ukrainian dive instructor as the main suspect in the attack on Nord Stream and handed over the arrest warrant to the Polish authorities.

Poland received an arrest warrant issued by Berlin in connection to the 2022 attack on Nord Stream pipelines, but the suspect has already left Poland as Germany failed to include his name in a database of wanted persons, Polish prosecutors told Reuters.

"Moscow believes the German investigation will be closed without identifying those responsible,” wrote the RIA Novosti agency, citing Oleg Tyapkin, head of the European department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

“We have raised the issue of Germany and other affected countries fulfilling their obligations under the UN anti-terrorist conventions. We have officially made corresponding claims on this matter bilaterally, including to Berlin,” Tyapkin said.

The American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported last week that the attack on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines can be traced back to the Ukrainian authorities. President Volodymyr Zelensky's advisor, Mykhailo Podolyak, denied this.

At the same time, August Hanning, former head of the German foreign intelligence (BND), expressed his belief in an interview with the editors of the "Die Welt" daily that the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines must have occurred with Poland's support and approval at the highest level—from Ukrainian President Zelensky and Polish President Andrzej Duda.

On Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk addressed all "the initiators and patrons of Nord Stream 1 and 2" on platform X. "The only thing you should do today about it is apologize and keep quiet," - he wrote.

On September 26, 2022, three of the four Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were destroyed at a depth of about 262 feet on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. A large portion of Russian natural gas for Germany had been directly supplied via Nord Stream 1 for years. Many Eastern and Western European countries repeatedly criticized the project strongly and warned of the geopolitical consequences of bypassing Eastern Europe in the transit of the raw material.

During Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Moscow suspended gas supplies even before the destruction of Nord Stream 1. Meanwhile, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was ultimately not put into operation due to the Russian invasion and the resulting political disputes.