A Ukrainian man suspected of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines has requested political asylum in Croatia

Ukrainian national Volodymyr Zhuravlev, whom German law enforcement authorities suspect of involvement in the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, has applied to the Croatian authorities for political asylum.

According to Zhuravlev, he believes he will not be able to receive a fair trial in Germany.

According to his attorney, Mykola Katerynchuk, Zhuravlev decided to apply to the Croatian authorities for political asylum out of concern that he would not be able to count on a fair trial in Germany. At the same time, the defense attorney noted that this request does not in itself halt the extradition proceedings.

“Volodymyr Zhuravlev has filed an application for political asylum in Croatia, arguing that he will not receive a fair trial in Germany,” the lawyer’s statement reads.

As previously reported, Croatia has ruled to extradite Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlev to Germany, where German authorities suspect him of sabotaging the “Nord Stream” and “Nord Stream 2” gas pipelines.

It was emphasized that Zhuravlev’s lawyers noted in early September that the extradition hearing in the case of Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlev, who is accused in Germany of sabotaging the “Nord Stream” pipelines, had been postponed, because the German authorities had updated the European arrest warrant and added a new charge to it—“war crime.”

It was previously reported that on August 19, the German prosecutor’s office detained Zhuravlev in Croatia and charged him with jointly organizing an explosion, unconstitutional sabotage, and the destruction of infrastructure. According to the German investigation, he was one of the divers who planted explosives on the “Nord Stream 1” and “Nord Stream 2” gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in 2022. After his extradition from Croatia, Zhuravlev is to be transferred to a German federal court.

This is already the third attempt by German investigators to detain him. In 2024, an attempt was made to arrest Zhuravlev in Poland, but he managed to flee to Ukraine.

This was reported by “Suspilne” on Tuesday.

Zhuravlev has threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike over his extradition to Germany.

A guilty verdict against the Ukrainian in the Nord Stream case would be a disgrace to justice.

Zelenskyy has responded for the first time to the case involving the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

No evidence has been found to prove Ukraine’s involvement in the Nord Stream sabotage.