Polish court blocks extradition of Ukrainian suspected in Nord Stream pipeline blasts and frees him

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish court on Friday blocked the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian man suspected of involvement in the 2022 attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines and ordered his release, a ruling that was welcomed by Poland’s prime minister.

The 46-year-old suspect, who has been identified only as Volodymyr Z. in line with local privacy rules, was arrested near Warsaw Sept. 30 on a German warrant. German prosecutors have described him as a trained diver and allege that he was part of a group that placed explosives on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm three years ago.

The Warsaw District Court rejected his extradition on Friday and ordered his immediate release.

The man’s lawyer, Tymoteusz Paprocki, said ahead of the hearing that “my client doesn’t admit guilt, he didn’t commit any crime against Germany and he doesn’t understand why these charges were made by the German side.” He said he also would argue that no Ukrainian should be charged with any action directed against Russia.

Judge points to a “just war”

Judge Dariusz Lubowski said as he announced his ruling that the attack on the pipelines should be understood as a military action in a “just war,” and therefore not subject to criminal responsibility on the part of an individual. He also questioned German jurisdiction for various reasons, including the fact that the explosions occurred in international waters.

Poland, whose successive governments have been staunchly anti-Russian, has a history of opposition to the pipelines. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said it would not be in Poland’s interest to hand over the suspect.

Tusk noted in a post on X Friday that the court had rejected extradition, “and rightly so.” He added that “the case is closed.”

Pipelines drew regional opposition

Undersea explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, severely damaged the pipelines. The damage added to tensions over the war in Ukraine as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources, following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was inaugurated in 2011 and carried Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea until Russia cut off supplies at the end of August 2022.

They also damaged the parallel Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Germany had previously pushed ahead with the Nord Stream 2 project despite opposition from central and eastern European countries and the U.S., which argued it would increase Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and give Russia the possibility of using gas as a geopolitical weapon.

Tusk said earlier this month that “the problem of Europe, the problem of Ukraine, the problem of Lithuania and Poland is not that Nord Stream 2 was blown up, but that it was built.” He said that “the only people who should be ashamed of and quiet about Nord Stream 2 are those who decided to build it.”

German prosecutors also seeking an extradition from Italy

At the time of his arrest, Volodymyr Z. was a resident of Poland, where he lived with his wife and children, Polish prosecutors say. His wife has told Polish media her husband is innocent and that they were together in Poland at the time the pipelines were blown up.

He is one of two Ukrainians whose extradition German judicial authorities have been trying to secure in the case.

A man suspected to have been one of the coordinators of the attack was arrested in Italy in August. This week, Italy’s top court annulled a lower court’s decision to order his extradition and called for another panel of judges to reassess the case, his lawyer said.

The German government has declined to comment on Tusk’s remarks this month.

Asked about the case ahead of Friday’s ruling, spokesperson Steffen Meyer said that “of course it’s important to us that things be cleared up” but wouldn’t comment beyond that, noting that the ongoing proceedings are in prosecutors’ hands.

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Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.