Suspect in Nord Stream sabotage Volodymyr Zhuravlov seeks asylum in Croatia amid extradition fight
Volodymyr Zhuravlov, a Ukrainian national Germany suspects of involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage, has applied for political asylum in Croatia, where he is being held on a European arrest warrant. His lawyer said the asylum claim does not automatically halt extradition, and the defence is appealing a Croatian court ruling that allowed his transfer to Germany.
Key points
- Volodymyr Zhuravlov, a Ukrainian citizen suspected by Germany in the Nord Stream sabotage, has applied for political asylum in Croatia.
- His lawyer Mykola Katerynchuk said Zhuravlov justified the request by claiming he would not receive a fair trial in Germany.
- Katerynchuk said the asylum application does not automatically halt the extradition process.
- A district court in Pula, Croatia authorised Zhuravlov's extradition to Germany; the defence is appealing that ruling and called it 'biased' and 'political'.
- Zhuravlov was detained in Pula on 19 August on a European arrest warrant issued by Germany's Federal Court of Justice.
- Three of four strings of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were damaged by explosions on the Baltic Sea seabed near Bornholm on 26 September 2022.
- Co-suspect Serhiy Kuznetsov was detained in Italy in August 2025, extradited to Germany in November 2025, formally indicted on 1 July 2026, and is scheduled to stand trial in Hamburg around late October.
Why it matters
Zhuravlov is one of only two Ukrainian suspects in the Nord Stream case to be publicly identified and detained in Europe, alongside Serhiy Kuznetsov, whose trial in Hamburg is scheduled for late October. His asylum request and the ongoing appeal of the Pula court's extradition ruling set up a competing-track legal fight over whether he will be sent to Germany. The case also highlights divisions among EU and NATO partners on how to handle such suspects: Poland previously refused to extradite him and released him in October 2025, and German prosecutors' claim of a 'Ukrainian state trace' in the sabotage remains contested by Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office.
What happened
Volodymyr Zhuravlov, a 46-year-old Ukrainian diver whom German investigators suspect of having placed explosives on the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022, has applied for political asylum in Croatia, his lawyer Mykola Katerynchuk told Babel and Suspilne. Katerynchuk said Zhuravlov justified the request by arguing he would not receive a fair trial in Germany, and noted that an asylum application does not automatically stop the extradition process.
Zhuravlov has been in Croatian custody since his detention in Pula on 19 August on a European arrest warrant from Germany's Federal Court of Justice. A district court in Pula authorised his extradition to Germany; the defence is appealing that ruling in an appellate court and has called the lower-court decision 'biased' and 'political'. German prosecutors charge him with co-organising the detonation of explosives, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of civilian structures.
Separately, the alleged coordinator of the sabotage, Serhiy Kuznetsov, was detained in Italy in August 2025, extradited to Germany in November 2025 and formally indicted on 1 July 2026. He denies the charges and is scheduled to stand trial in Hamburg around late October.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All available sources are Ukrainian media and frame the story around Zhuravlov's asylum request, the Pula court's extradition decision and Katerynchuk's characterisation of that ruling as 'biased' and 'political'. Ukrainian outlets foreground the defence's voice and Ukraine's official position, including the Prosecutor General's Office's 9 July statement that its investigation found no evidence of Ukrainian state involvement in the sabotage. The coverage also notes the earlier Polish refusal to extradite Zhuravlov and the release ordered by a Warsaw court in October 2025.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on how many Ukrainian citizens are subject to German arrest warrants in the case: most say six, while a few say five. There is also disagreement on whether Zhuravlov's detention in Croatia rests on one European arrest warrant or two (one covering anti-constitutional sabotage, intentional explosion and destruction of structures; another framing the conduct as a war crime related to damage to civilian objects). The chronology of the Pula court's decisions is also unclear, with some accounts tying the 20 July preventive-detention order to the extradition ruling while others describe a separate later ruling in September. Finally, the German 'Ukrainian state trace' allegation directly conflicts with Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office statement that no evidence of Ukrainian involvement was found.
Background
On 26 September 2022, three of four strings of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were damaged by explosions on the Baltic Sea seabed near Bornholm; the pipelines were not operating at the time but contained technical gas. In August 2025, German media reported that arrest warrants had been issued for six Ukrainians suspected of involvement, with Serhiy Kuznetsov identified as the alleged coordinator of the group. Kuznetsov was detained in Italy in August 2025, extradited to Germany in November 2025, and formally indicted on 1 July 2026; he denies the charges and his trial is scheduled in Hamburg around late October. Denmark and Sweden closed their own investigations in 2024 citing a lack of grounds for criminal proceedings. In 2024 German authorities tried to detain Zhuravlov in Poland; he reportedly left for Ukraine, and a later Polish arrest in Pruszków on 30 September 2025 was followed by a Warsaw court in October 2025 refusing extradition and ordering his release, with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Justice Minister Waldemar Żurek publicly opposing his surrender.