Ukrainian diving instructor suspected of blowing up Nord Stream gas pipelines on the run from a German arrest warrant

A Ukrainian diving instructor suspected of being part of the gang that blew up Nord Stream gas pipelines is on the run. German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for the man only identified as Vladislav Ts on August 13, who was living in Poland, but he has since slipped over the border and is back in Ukraine by August 14.

Vladislav Ts was identified as one of a group of “pro-Ukraine activists” that hired the yacht Andromeda, sailed to the centre of the Baltic Sea and mined the gas pipelines that deliver Russian gas to Germany. Three of the four strands were ruptured by explosions in September 2023, sparking a manhunt for the perpetrators.

A German investigation quickly pointed to an independent group of Ukrainian patriots that carried out the sabotage independent from the government.

Vladislav Ts was identified as a member of the group by a more recent joint investigation carried out by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), German TV station ARD and Die Zeit newspaper.

The suspect is a Ukrainian national and diving school instructor. Anna Adamiak, spokeswoman for the Polish prosecutor general confirmed that he has since fled to Ukraine, adding his name had not been added to the border service database, which allowed the Ukrainian to slip through customs unchallenged.

"Vladimir Ts., a Ukrainian diver suspected by German security services of involvement in the explosions at the Nord Stream pipeline, left Poland for Ukraine in early July," she told the Onet news website.

Polish Interior Minister Tomasz Siemoniak said the country’s law enforcement agencies "actively cooperated and continue to cooperate with agencies from foreign countries, such as Germany" in the investigation into the blasts at the underwater natural-gas pipeline.

The German Federal Public Prosecutor is also investigating two other Ukrainian diving instructors, including a woman, believed to be linked to the case. The three suspects are alleged to have been the crew of the yacht Andromeda, which is at the centre of the German investigation into the sabotage and identified by a The New York Times (NYT) investigation as the likely vehicle behind the explosions.

In an interview with SZ, the female suspect denied any involvement, stating that she had never met Vladimir Ts. and was on vacation in Bulgaria at the time of the incident in September 2022. Efforts by the newspaper to contact her husband, who is the third suspect, were unsuccessful.

While German investigators have not found any direct evidence linking the suspects to the Ukrainian military or government, the report suggests that the suspects' online activities indicate strong pro-Ukrainian sentiments.

The Nord Stream AG company reported on September 27, 2022, that three threads of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 offshore gas pipelines had suffered severe damage. Swedish seismologists recorded two explosions along the pipelines on September 26, prompting an investigation by the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office into what was described as an act of international terrorism.

The incident has sparked widespread speculation and various theories regarding the perpetrators. US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed in an article that US Navy divers, with assistance from Norwegian specialists, had planted explosive devices under the pipelines in June 2022.

Conversely, a report by The New York Times, citing US officials, suggested that a "pro-Ukrainian" group may have been responsible for the sabotage.

The Kremlin said the UK was behind the explosions, without offering any proof.