German arrest warrant over Nord Stream blast mystery

German state prosecutors trying to solve the mystery of who blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea in 2022 have issued an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian diving instructor.

The suspect has been named as Volodymyr Z by German media, who have treated the sabotage like a sensational true crime drama.

Ines Peterson, a spokeswoman for Germany’s prosecutor general, declined to confirm the arrest warrant, telling the BBC that her office never commented so as not to jeopardise the investigation by giving the suspect a chance to escape.

But the Polish prosecutor general's spokeswoman, Anna Adamiak, in Warsaw told the BBC's Adam Easton that a European Arrest Warrant had indeed been passed to them by German prosecutors.

When Polish officers went to Volodymyr Z’s home in early July, he had already left the country for Ukraine, she said.

He had until then been living in a quiet residential area of Pruszków, a town near Warsaw, German media say.

Moar: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnvyz1472rpo