BERLIN (AP) – A Ukrainian citizen man suspected of being one of the coordinators of the undersea explosion in 2022 Node stream gas pipeline corrupted He was arrested between Russia and Germany, German prosecutors said Thursday.
The suspect was identified only as Serhii K in line with German privacy rules and was arrested overnight by officers from the police station in Misano Adriatrico, near the Italian city of Limini, federal prosecutors said.
The explosion on September 26, 2022 damaged a pipeline built to transport Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Damage added to tension War in Ukraine Following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, European countries began to withdraw from Russia’s energy sources.
Investigators have almost narrowed in their investigation, but two years ago they said they found traces of it. Undersea explosives Samples taken from yachts searched as part of the probe.
In a statement Thursday, prosecutors said Serhii K. is considered to be one of the coordinators and one of the coordinators of those who placed explosives in the pipeline. They said he was suspected of causing an explosion, anti-constitutional obstruction and destruction of the structure.
The suspect and others used yachts departing from the German port of Rostock. Rostock used a forged ID and was hired by a German company with the help of an intermediary, prosecutors said.
They said nothing about others who might have been involved in aboard the yacht to provide information to others or coordinated suspicious sabotage.
The explosion was Russia’s main natural gas supply route to Germany to Moscow. Cut out supplies End of August 2022.
They also did not enter the service for Germany. The authentication process has been stopped It was just before Russia invaded Ukraine in February of that year.
Russia accused the United States of staging the explosion, accusations that Washington denied. The pipeline was long Targets of US criticism and some of the allies who warned that increasing Russian dependence on gas would pose a risk to Europe’s energy security.
In 2023, German media reported that Procrane County was involved in sabotage. Ukraine rejected the attack and suggestions that may have ordered German officials Careful attention About the accusation.
German prosecutors did not say when they hoped Serchy K would be handed over to German authorities.
