Ukrainian detained in Poland over 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions

Ukrainian detained in Poland over 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions
A Ukrainian man suspected of being involved in causing undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in 2022 was arrested in Poland, a spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw said Tuesday. (Reuters/File)
Short Url
Updated 14 sec ago

Ukrainian detained in Poland over 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions

Ukrainian detained in Poland over 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions
  • Volodymyr Z. has been transferred to prosecutors in Warsaw
  • The man, whose full name wasn’t released due to privacy rules, was detained on a European arrest warrant issued by German authorities

WARSAW: A Ukrainian man suspected of being involved in causing undersea explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in 2022 was arrested in Poland, a spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw said Tuesday.
Volodymyr Z. was detained in Pruszkow, central Poland, according to Polish radio station RMF FM, which first reported his capture. He has been transferred to prosecutors in Warsaw.
The man, whose full name wasn’t released due to privacy rules, was detained on a European arrest warrant issued by German authorities, said Piotr Antoni Skiba, a spokesperson for the Warsaw prosecutor’s office.
A spokesperson for Germany’s federal prosecutor did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday.
Another Ukrainian man was arrested in Italy last month in connection with the explosions on the undersea pipelines that were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
“Taking into consideration the full-scale war in Ukraine and the fact that Nord Stream is owned by the Russian company Gazprom, which finances these activities, the defense currently does not see any possibility of pressing charges against anyone who participated in these events,” Tymoteusz Paprocki, Volodymyr Z.’s lawyer, told RMF FM.
The lawyer said it was not certain whether his client was involved in the sabotage act and he was awaiting official information about the intentions of the German justice system in pressing charges. The defense would fight extradition, the lawyer said.
Undersea explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, damaged pipelines that were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The damage added to tensions over the war in Ukraine as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources, following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to RMF FM, German authorities say the man is a diving instructor and, in September 2022, he sailed to the Baltic Sea on a yacht, from which he dove underwater and placed the explosive on the underwater pipeline.


Madagascar protesters return to streets despite move to dissolve government

Updated 2 sec ago

Madagascar protesters return to streets despite move to dissolve government

Madagascar protesters return to streets despite move to dissolve government
Protesters also marched in the city of Fenoarivo
Rallies were reported in MaHajjanga, northwest of Antananarivo, and in Diego Suarez, north of the capital

ANTANANARIVO: Security forces fired teargas to disperse hundreds of young protesters in Madagascar’s capital who took to the streets again on Tuesday despite the president’s decision to partly yield to their demands by dissolving the government.
Andry Rajoelina went on state television late on Monday and said he wanted to create room for dialogue with young people pressing for access to water and an end to power cuts, and promised measures to support businesses affected by looting.
In a message on the protest movement’s Facebook page, some of the protest organizers said they were disappointed by his speech and demanded an apology from him and the now dismissed prime minister, as well as the firing of Antananarivo’s administrator.
Others went further, waving placards with messages such as “We need water, we need electricity, Rajoelina out,” footage of protesters marching in the capital Antananarivo, broadcast on the privately owned broadcaster Real TV Madagasikara, showed.
Protesters also marched in the city of Fenoarivo, a small town 20 km (12 miles) west of the capital, footage from Real TV showed.
Rallies were reported in MaHajjanga, 510 km (315 miles) northwest of Antananarivo, and in Diego Suarez, 950 km (590 miles) north of the capital, privately owned 2424.MG and Fitaproduction reported.
A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday’s protest.
The United Nations says at least 22 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in protests that began last week and are now in the fourth day.
The ministry of foreign affairs has rejected the casualty figures shared by the UN, saying the data did not come from competent national authorities and were based on rumors or misinformation.
Inspired by the so-called youth-led “Gen Z” protests in Kenya and Nepal, the four days of demonstrations have been the largest the Indian Ocean island has seen in years, and the most serious challenge Rajoelina has faced since his re-election in 2023.
Rajoelina first came to power in a 2009 coup. He stepped down in 2014 but became president again after winning the 2018 election, and secured a third term in a December 2023 poll that his challengers said was marred by irregularities.
In Monday’s and last week’s protests, the demonstrators adapted a flag used in Nepal, where protesters forced the prime minister to resign this month.
They have also used similar online tactics to organize rallies as protesters did last year in Kenya, where the government scrapped proposed tax legislation.

South Africa’s ambassador to France found dead in Paris — Le Parisien

South Africa’s ambassador to France found dead in Paris — Le Parisien
Updated 14 min 21 sec ago

South Africa’s ambassador to France found dead in Paris — Le Parisien

South Africa’s ambassador to France found dead in Paris — Le Parisien
  • A spokesperson for Paris Police declined to comment

PARIS: South Africa’s ambassador to France has been found dead at the foot of the Hyatt Hotel, a high-rise tower in Porte Maillot in the west of Paris, newspaper Le Parisien reported on Tuesday.


A spokesperson for Paris Police declined to comment.
A call to the South African Embassy went unanswered.


Ukraine sends anti-drone team to Denmark for exercises

Ukraine sends anti-drone team to Denmark for exercises
Updated 23 min 24 sec ago

Ukraine sends anti-drone team to Denmark for exercises

Ukraine sends anti-drone team to Denmark for exercises
  • “Our group of specialists has begun deploying a mission in Denmark,” Zelensky said

KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday that Kyiv was dispatching a team of Ukrainian drone specialists to Denmark for exercises following a series of airspace violations in Europe blamed on Russia.


“Our group of specialists has begun deploying a mission in Denmark to share Ukraine’s experience in countering drones,” Zelensky said in a post on social media, adding the team would participate in joint exercises with allies.


The UN mission appeals to the Taliban to restore Internet access across Afghanistan

The UN mission appeals to the Taliban to restore Internet access across Afghanistan
Updated 41 min 22 sec ago

The UN mission appeals to the Taliban to restore Internet access across Afghanistan

The UN mission appeals to the Taliban to restore Internet access across Afghanistan
  • The outage, reported the previous day, was the first nationwide shutdown since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 and was part of their professed crackdown on immorality

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations mission in Afghanistan urged the Taliban on Tuesday to restore Internet and telecommunications access across the country, saying the blackout imposed by the government in Kabul has left the nation almost entirely cut off from the outside world.
The outage, reported the previous day, was the first nationwide shutdown since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 and was part of their professed crackdown on immorality. Earlier this month, several provinces lost their fiber-optic connections after Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree banning the service to prevent immorality.
The disruption threatened economic stability and deepened one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, said the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
It warned that the blackout is crippling banking and financial systems, isolating women and girls, limiting access to medical care and remittances, and disrupting aviation.
The UN said such restrictions further undermine freedom of expression and the right to information. It noted that telecommunications are also crucial during disasters — Afghanistan has recently suffered major earthquakes in the east and is struggling with mass forced returns from neighboring countries.
The UN mission said the Internet outage spread since it was first imposed by the Taliban on Sept. 16 and became nationwide on Sept. 29. The mission said it would continue to press Afghanistan’s de facto authorities to restore access “in support of the Afghan people.”


Ukrainian diver wanted over Nord Stream explosions detained in Poland

Ukrainian diver wanted over Nord Stream explosions detained in Poland
Updated 43 min 32 sec ago

Ukrainian diver wanted over Nord Stream explosions detained in Poland

Ukrainian diver wanted over Nord Stream explosions detained in Poland
  • The Nord Stream explosions in 2022 largely severed Russian gas supplies to Europe
  • Private broadcaster RMF FM said Volodymyr Z. was detained in Pruszkow, west of Warsaw

WARSAW: Volodymyr Z., a Ukrainian diver wanted by Germany over his alleged involvement in the Nord Stream explosions, has been detained in Poland, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
Described by both Moscow and the West as an act of sabotage, the explosions in 2022 largely severed Russian gas supplies to Europe, marking a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and squeezing energy supplies on the continent.
No one has taken responsibility for the blasts and Ukraine has denied any role.
“This morning, he was detained in a town near Warsaw,” Volodymyr Z.’s lawyer Tymoteusz Paprocki said.
Private broadcaster RMF FM first reported the arrest. It said Volodymyr Z. was detained in Pruszkow, west of the capital.
Suspect to fight transfer to Germany
Paprocki said that Volodymyr Z.’s defense would fight against his transfer to Germany, arguing that the execution of the European arrest warrant against him was inadmissible given Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“The attack on Nord Stream infrastructure concerns one of the pipeline’s owners, Gazprom, which directly finances the military operations in Ukraine,” he said.
Gazprom is Russia’s state gas giant.
The German justice ministry and the federal prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Polish prosecutors had no immediate comment.
In August, Italian police arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating the attacks.
The man, identified only as Serhii K., plans to take his fight against extradition to Italy’s highest court after a lower court ordered his transfer to Germany.
Polish prosecutors said in August that they received a European arrest warrant issued by Berlin in connection with the attack on Nord Stream pipelines, but the suspect had already left Poland.
Gas pipelines
German investigators believe Volodymyr Z. was part of a team that planted the explosives, the SZ and Die Zeit newspapers reported in August alongside the ARD broadcaster, citing unnamed sources.
The blasts wrecked three out of four Nord Stream pipelines, which had become a controversial symbol of German reliance on Russian gas in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia blamed the US, Britain and Ukraine for the blasts, which largely cut Russian gas off from the lucrative European market. Those countries have denied involvement.
Germany, Denmark, and Sweden all opened investigations into the incident, and the Swedes found traces of explosives on several objects recovered from the explosion site, confirming the blasts were deliberate acts.
The Swedish and Danish investigations were closed in February without identifying any suspect.