Germany has updated the warrant for Ukrainian suspected of blowing up Nord Stream pipelines

Germany has updated the European arrest warrant for Ukrainian citizen Vladimir Zhuravlev, who German law enforcement suspects of involvement in the blowing up of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. A new legal qualification was added to the document: "war crime."

The changes were reported by the law firm "Katerinchuk, Moor and Partners", representing Zhuravlev's interests.

Thus, the German side has expanded the list of charges on the basis of which it seeks to hold the Ukrainian accountable in the case of explosions on Russian gas pipelines. At the same time, the inclusion of this qualification in the warrant does not mean recognition of Zhuravlev as guilty of a war crime—it refers to the prosecution's position at the current stage of proceedings.

German investigators consider Zhuravlev one of the participants in a group that may have been involved in installing explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

Explosions on the gas pipelines occurred in September 2022. As a result, three of the four strings of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were damaged. Several European countries began investigations into the circumstances of the sabotage, but subsequently Sweden and Denmark closed their proceedings. Germany continued its investigation.

As part of the case, the German side issued a European arrest warrant for Zhuravlev. The key question remains whether Germany will be able to secure his extradition and continue criminal prosecution on its own territory.

Adding the "war crime" qualification significantly changes the legal component of the case, since now it involves not only charges directly related to destruction of infrastructure and use of explosives, but also a possible assessment of the attack on the gas pipelines from the perspective of international humanitarian law.

At the same time, only a court can give a final legal assessment of the circumstances of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines and Zhuravlev's possible role.