Polish judge refuses to extradite Nord Stream bombing suspect for ‘simple act’

A Polish judge has refused to extradite a Ukrainian national – suspected by Germany of sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 – arguing that if Ukraine was responsible for the attack, it was a “just” act.

Volodymyr Zhuravlyov, who was brought to the Warsaw District Court in handcuffs, was detained in Poland last month on a European arrest warrant.

Judge Dariusz Lubowski ordered his release after a ruling that was met with surprise from the crowd in court and a smile from the man in the dock.

Mr. Zhuravlev, along with others, is suspected of planting explosives deep under the Baltic Sea along pipelines leading from Russia to Germany.

The blasts, which crippled a long-disputed energy supply line from Russia to Germany, were initially blamed on Moscow until signs of Ukrainian involvement began to emerge.

Authorities in Kyiv have repeatedly denied any role.

Extradition cases in the EU are usually quick and straightforward, but the Nord Stream case is proving to be very different.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose government is a key ally of war-torn Ukraine, immediately posted on X that the decision was correct.

“Case closed,” he wrote.

In the vast district court building in Warsaw, Judge Lubowski announced his decision to the suspect, his family and legal team – and a large array of television cameras.

In a long and impassioned speech, he said he was only considering the request to send Mr. Zhuravlev to Germany, not the substance of the case itself. But he was clear that the context of the war in Ukraine was critical.

The judge described the Russian invasion as a “bloody and genocidal attack” and argued, citing Aristotle and St Thomas Aquinas, that Ukraine had the legal right to defend itself.

“If Ukraine and its special forces … organized an armed mission to destroy enemy pipelines – which the court does not prejudge – then these actions were not illegal.

“On the contrary, they were reasonable, rational and fair,” he told the court.

He said the attack had “deprived the enemy of billions of euros paid by Germany for gas… and weakened Russia’s military potential”.

What might be seen as terrorism or sabotage in peacetime, the judge said, is different in wartime.

Germany actually suspended the use of both Nord Stream 1 pipelines after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Nord Stream 2 has yet to be commissioned.

Poland has always been a sharp critic of this project because it makes Berlin too dependent on Moscow. The route deprived Poland of gas transit fees. Ukraine and the US have also been longtime opponents of the pipelines.

However, Judge Lyubowski insisted that his decision was legal, not emotional or political.

He also questioned whether Germany had jurisdiction to even bring its case because the explosions were in international waters on majority Russian state-owned pipelines.

Announcing that Mr Zhuravlev would be released from custody, he said the Ukrainian would also receive compensation from the Polish state.

“I’m happy… it’s been a really, really hard three weeks,” Mr Zhuravlev’s wife Yuliana told the BBC in court after the judge’s verdict.

“For me, as a Ukrainian, it was very important to hear that he understands us.

She said the family plans to stay in Poland, where they have been living since February 2022.

She earlier described her husband’s arrest at their home outside Warsaw and said he denied involvement in the sabotage.

Vladimir Zhuravlev is a deep-sea diver, his wife confirmed, but she called it a hobby and said he had no military role.

There is a business in Poland for the installation of air conditioners. Mrs Zhuravlyova could not tell the BBC exactly where her husband was when three of the four Nord Stream pipelines were blown up because she said no one had asked her to check.

He is not the only suspect on Germany’s list: another Ukrainian was detained in Italy in August while on holiday.

Sergei Kuznetsov was also accused of “unconstitutional sabotage” and denied any connection to the blasts. He is currently in a maximum security prison in northern Italy.

A court in Bologna ruled that he should be extradited to Berlin, but earlier this week that ruling was overturned by Rome’s highest appeals court and the case was sent back to Bologna to start over.

Asked about the decision, Germany’s foreign minister said he respected the decision and it was not the government’s job to interfere in the courts.