CROATIAN COURT APPROVES EXTRADITION OF NORD STREAM BOMBING SUSPECT

A Croatian court has approved the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian man wanted in connection with the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines, according to his lawyer. Ljubo Pavasovic Viskovic told Croatian state broadcaster HRT that the court approved the extradition on 18 September, with the ruling made public on Thursday. The man, identified by German prosecutors as Vladimir Z, was arrested on a European arrest warrant in the northern Croatian town of Pula in August. Pavasovic Viskovic said the ruling is not final and will be appealed, so it remains unclear when or whether the extradition will take place. German prosecutors describe Vladimir Z as a "trained scuba diver" who was part of a team accused of planting explosives on the pipelines.

Prosecutors allege the team planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm. The pipelines, built to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, were damaged in undersea blasts on 26 September 2022. One report, citing the AFP news agency, said Vladimir Z was arrested while reportedly working on a Hollywood dramatisation of the attack. German prosecutors accuse him of working closely with another Ukrainian man, identified as Serhii K. Serhii K was detained in August 2025 during a raid on a bungalow in an Italian village where he was staying with his family, and was extradited to Germany the following November.

Serhii K is due to face trial at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court from 14 October, with proceedings expected to continue into February 2027. In July, German federal prosecutors filed charges against a former Ukrainian army officer in connection with the pipeline explosions. Pavasovic Viskovic said Vladimir Z's case will now go through an appeal process in Croatia before any extradition can proceed. The case forms part of a wider German investigation into the 2022 attack that has already produced separate charges and one earlier extradition from Italy.