Germany Issues First Arrest Warrant In Nord Stream Sabotage Investigation 

The Nord Stream pipeline explosion was one the largest acts of industrial sabotage in modern history. Nearly two years later, speculation continues to swirl about who was behind the attack. 

Was it the CIA, as famed journalist and Pulitzer prize winner Seymour Hersh claimed? Did the Russians blow up their own undersea pipeline in the Baltic Sea? Or was it a Ukrainian commando with a sailing yacht? 

A new report surfaced on Wednesday, released by several German media outlets, including ARD, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, and Die Zeit. It details how German officials obtained an arrest warrant for a Ukrainian citizen named ‘Volodymyr Z’ in June, who was living in Poland at the time.

Polish National Public Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Anna Adamiak told Reuters that the arrest warrant was sent to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw in June.

Volodymyr Z was a diver wanted in connection with the Nord Stream explosion that rocked the NatGas pipeline, which stretches from Russia to Germany, in September 2022. 

“Ultimately, Volodymyr Z. was not detained, because at the beginning of July he left Polish territory, crossing the Polish-Ukrainian border,” Adamiak said. 

She continued, “Free crossing of the Polish-Ukrainian border by the above-mentioned person was possible because German authorities… did not include him in the database of wanted persons, which meant that the Polish Border Guard had no knowledge and no grounds to detain Volodymyr Z.”

UPDATE: Poland confirmed it had received a European arrest warrant from Germany for a suspect in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

The Polish prosecutor’s office said Volodymyr Z. could not be arrested as he left the country for Ukraine in early July. pic.twitter.com/saOVCJCaxk

— DW News (@dwnews) August 14, 2024

In February, Swedish and Danish authorities closed their investigation into who was behind the pipeline sabotage. 

• Sweden Halts Nord Stream Investigation, Hands Off To Germany, As Hersh Fills In More Blanks

• Denmark Drops Probe Into Nord Stream Gas Pipeline Sabotage

In early 2023, months after the pipeline attack, journalist Seymour Hersh published a bombshell report on his Substack that alleged the US blew up the Russia-to-Germany NatGas pipeline as part of a covert operation under the guise of the BALTOPS 22 NATO exercise. 

“The Navy proposed using a newly commissioned submarine to assault the pipeline directly. The Air Force discussed dropping bombs with delayed fuses that could be set off remotely. The CIA argued that whatever was done, it would have to be covert. Everyone involved understood the stakes,” the report, entitled How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline, reads.

Days after the explosion, America’s corporate media outlets pushed this propaganda. 

The mainstream news media is the main source of disinformation today pic.twitter.com/QreqONGS7h

— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) February 8, 2023

One can’t help but wonder if the latest push by EU corporate media is yet another misinformation and disinformation campaign to shift the blame from the US to Ukraine.