Ukrainian suspect who blew up Nord Stream pipelines tried to get Russian citizenship

Vladimir Zhuravlev, a 44-year-old Kyiv native, whom German prosecutors now consider to be the main suspect in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, applied for Russian citizenship in 2009 and was denied, Shot Telegram channel reports. 

Photo: berria.eus by FactsWithoutBias1, CC BY-SA 4.0

The German Prosecutor General Office issued an arrest warrant for the suspect, who turned out to be a Ukrainian diving instructor.

According to the investigation, which is based, among other things, on foreign intelligence data, the group that directly carried out the explosion on the Nord Streams consisted of at least three people including one woman. The individuals arrived in a white Citroen van to the shore on the island of Rügen where they boarded the Andromeda yacht together with their equipment.

The main suspect, Vladimir Zhuravlev, was last seen in Warsaw. His current whereabouts are unknown. The man is married and has a son. Poland is not helping Germany with the investigation.

The act of sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden was committed on September 26, 2022.

What else is known about Vladimir Zhuravlev:

• studied at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;
• served in the Ukrainian army;
• has a specialty "Diving equipment maintenance technician";
• worked at Ukrainian diving center DIVE TEAM, which publicly denied its ties to the CIA;
• worked at PADI association of diving instructors;
• married to a peer named Yuliana;
• the couple has a son who sometimes works part-time at PADI diving association;

It is worthy of note that the Polish prosecutor's office said that Vladimir left Poland for Ukraine in early July.