Ukraine "has officially never participated in any operation related to the sabotage of Nord Stream 2," the head of the Ukrainian state stated on Sunday, August 23, while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting with leaders of the countries participating in the "Northern Baltic Eight" (Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Estonia), as reported by the online publication "Ukrainian Truth." "At a high level, we discussed this with the German side. They know perfectly well that Ukraine had no relation to either the implementation or the very idea of conducting the relevant operation," the publication quotes the reaction of the Ukrainian leader to reporters' requests to comment on new data from the investigation. ## ## Arrest of Ukrainian Vladimir Zh. in the Nord Stream Case On August 20, a court in Croatia issued a warrant for the arrest of Ukrainian diver Vladimir Zh., the second suspect in connection with the explosions on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, which connect Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea. As reported by international media, the Ukrainian was detained while filming the Hollywood movie "Snake Island" directed by Doug Liman. It is reported that the film's plot is based on the story of the Nord Stream sabotage, featuring actors Adrien Brody and Sean Penn. The detained Ukrainian, according to unconfirmed data from Der Spiegel, acted as a consultant for the film crew. A year ago, Vladimir Zh. was detained in Poland, but at that time, the Polish court denied the German authorities his extradition. In 2024, German investigators attempted to arrest the man in Poland based on a European arrest warrant; however, Vladimir Zh. managed to leave for Ukraine. On August 23, commenting on the situation surrounding the investigation of the explosions on the Nord Streams, Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized that Ukraine is "absolutely open to joint steps within the framework of the investigation." "We are always ready to assist our partners. Of course, we are already doing this. Our Prosecutor General's Office is working on this. Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs is working on this. There are constant contacts. We are open to everything," assured the Ukrainian president. ## ## In Germany, Kyiv is Considered Involved in the Nord Stream Sabotage Three of the four strands of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea were blown up in late September 2022. At that time, no gas was being transported through any of them. "Nord Stream" was halted by Russia shortly before the explosions, and "Nord Stream 2" had not been put into operation due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In July 2026, the Federal Prosecutor's Office of Germany concluded that the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in 2022 was organized on the orders of Ukrainian state authorities.
