Croatia Clears Extradition to Germany in Nord Stream Sabotage Case
A Croatian court has approved the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian man wanted over the September 2022 explosions that ruptured the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea. Al Jazeera
Extradition is the formal handover of a suspect to face charges in another country. The man was arrested in August in Pula, in northern Croatia, on a European warrant, an arrest request that applies across EU states. His lawyer, Ljubo Pavasovic Viskovic, said the court approved extradition on September 18. The ruling was reported on September 24, 2026 by Reuters and Al Jazeera. Reuters
The ruling is not final. The lawyer told Croatia's HRT Television he will appeal the September 18 decision. Ukraine's Suspilne news portal reported that the court ruled the man can be extradited to Germany. It is unclear when or whether extradition will take place.
German prosecutors identify the man as Vladimir Z. Ukrainian outlet NV identifies him as Volodymyr Zhuravlyov. NV Germany normally releases only a first name and initial to protect privacy, which accounts for the difference in naming.
German prosecutors allege Vladimir Z. was a trained scuba diver in a team that planted explosives on Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 near the Danish island of Bornholm. They accuse him of working closely with another Ukrainian suspect, Serhii K., in the operation.
Serhii K. was detained in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany in November 2025. He is due to face trial at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court on October 14, with proceedings potentially continuing through February 2027.
The blasts occurred on September 26, 2022. They damaged pipelines built to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Three of the four pipelines were destroyed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his government knew nothing about any plan to blow up the pipelines.
The broader context here is procedural. Germany is pursuing the case through country-to-country extradition and a domestic criminal trial, rather than through an international tribunal or a joint investigation team. That places weight on each national court's decisions on arrest, surrender and admissibility. If the second surrender survives appeal in Croatia, German federal prosecutors would have more than one defendant in custody as they present the diving-team allegation.
Looking at what this means for the next phase, sequencing matters. The Hamburg trial date gives prosecutors a fixed venue for testing the evidence against Serhii K., including the claim of coordination with Vladimir Z. A pending Croatian appeal means any additional testimony or joint proceedings involving the second suspect cannot be assumed. For readers tracking accountability for the sabotage, the questions to watch are narrow: whether the Croatian appeal court upholds surrender, on what timetable, and how the Hamburg court handles evidence that links two alleged participants across two extradition cases.
