A UKRAINIAN man has been arrested over the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipe explosion.
He is suspected of being one of the lead coordinators of the undersea blasts which severely damaged pipelines between Russia and Germany.
Images show the damaged pipeline after the explosion
APA leak from Nord Stream 2 after the pipeline blast[/caption]
The suspect has been identified only as Serhii K after he was detained overnight by officers from a police station in Misano Adriatrico, near the Italian city of Rimini.
Germany’s Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig called the arrest an “impressive success” for Germany’s state prosecutors.
Two Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by explosions under the Baltic Sea between Denmark and Sweden almost three years ago.
The blasts caused four leaks as shocking images and footage showed the twisted remains of the pipeline 262ft down in the Baltic Sea.
Around 165ft of pipeline was destroyed or buried under the seafloor.
The attacks sent millions of cubic metres of methane boiling to the sea’s surface and pushed sky-high gas prices even higher.
The underwater explosions were detected alongside a mini earthquake at the time.
Prosecutors now believe the underwater strikes were carried out by a team involving Serhii K.
In a statement today, they said the Ukrainian is believed to have been one of the lead coordinators.
They accused him of causing the explosions, anti-constitutional sabotage and the destruction of the two structures.
Alongside his co-conspirators, Serhii K is alleged to have used a yacht to sail from the German port of Rostock to the site of the pipelines.
The vessel had been hired from a German company using fake IDs and with the help of intermediaries, prosecutors believe.
They are yet to release any information on who else is currently a suspect.
Investigations into who was behind the attacks went on for months with security experts initially blaming Russian sabotage.
Ukraine and Poland pointed the finger at Moscow – while other European nations stopped short of attributing blame.
Putin had been previously accused of weaponising the energy crisis in a bid to pile pressure on the West.
The explosions were believed to have been timed to coincide with Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as European countries moved away from Russian energy sources.
Vlad was even accused of using drones called “pigs” to blow through the gas pipelines, reports claimed.
Russia denied all the allegations, calling them “predictable and stupid”.
Moscow hit back and sensationally accused the US of staging the explosions after Washington had been heavily critical of the pipelines in the past.
US officials had claimed some time before the blasts that the lines meant Europe was becoming too dependent on Russian gas.
Drone footage showed a 165ft section of Nord Stream 1 had been destroyed
AlamyThe underwater explosions were detected alongside a mini earthquake at the time[/caption]