Germany's federal prosecutor's office said on Monday that another suspect had been arrested in connection with the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
The statement identified him only as Vladimir Z., a Ukrainian citizen.
The suspect was arrested in Pula, Croatia, by local police authorities on the basis of a European arrest warrant.
The explosions, which occurred months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, damaged the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline - a vital facility for Russian gas supplies to Europe, as well as the Nord Stream 2, which was not yet commissioned at the time, Reuters notes.
The technical possibility of restoring the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines exists, and there are political forces in Europe that support such a scenario. This was stated in June to journalists on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum by the Special Representative of the Russian President for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries and Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, quoted by TASS.
“Technically, it is undoubtedly possible”, Dmitriev said in response to a question about whether in the foreseeable future it could transit of Russian gas along this route be restored.
According to him, an important signal is the position of the German party “Alternative for Germany“ (AfD), which, according to him, openly supports the resumption of the project.
“They have launched an investigation into why “Nord Stream“ was blown up. The Germans understand that due to the fact that they do not receive Russian energy, which is more predictable and cheaper, energy prices in Germany have increased by 30-40 percent“, said Dmitriev.
He added that the refusal of Russian energy supplies has caused serious economic damage to Europe.
“Europe has lost over 3 trillion dollars because of this refusal of Russian energy“, stressed Dmitriev.
Earlier, the deputy head and foreign policy expert of the “Alternative for Germany“ parliamentary group Germany“ in the Bundestag Markus Frohnmeier told TASS that Germany still has an interest in the possible resumption of the work of “Nord Stream“ after the end of the conflict in Ukraine.
On September 26, 2022, the “Nord Stream-1“ and “Nord Stream-2“ gas pipelines, built along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to supply Russian natural gas to Europe, were damaged due to explosions.
The total design capacity of the two gas pipelines is 110 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.
Following the incident, the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia opened a case for an act of international terrorism.