Polish Judge Declines to Hand Nord Stream Pipeline Bombing Suspect to German Authorities

The judge said the Ukrainian suspect may be functionally immune from criminal liability amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Gas bubbles from the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on the Baltic Sea, near Bornholm, Denmark, on Sept. 27, 2022. Danish Defence Command/Handout via Reuters

A Polish judge ruled on Oct. 17 against extraditing a Ukrainian national who is wanted in Germany in connection with the 2022 bombing of a series of underwater natural gas pipelines running between Russia and Germany.

The Ukrainian national, who was identified in court records only as Volodymyr Z. due to German privacy laws, was detained in Poland last month, after the German government issued a warrant for his arrest in June.