Nord Stream Bombing Suspect Arrested on Set of Movie About Nord Stream Bombing

Volodymyr Zhuravlyov spent over a year dodging German prosecutors who want him tried for blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines. Then he reportedly turned up as a consultant on a Hollywood movie dramatizing the exact attack he's accused of committing.

Police in Pula, Croatia arrested Zhuravlyov on Wednesday under a European arrest warrant issued by Germany, according to AFP, Euronews and The Japan Times. Germany's Legal Tribune Online (LTO) first reported that he was detained on or near the set of "Snake Island," a political thriller directed by Doug Liman, the filmmaker behind "The Bourne Identity," starring Sean Penn and Adrien Brody.

The Guardian reported that filming had moved from Zagreb to the Adriatic coast for diving scenes, with Liman telling a TV crew before the arrest that he was "excited to be by the water." German prosecutors describe Zhuravlyov as a professional, experienced diver who allegedly helped attach explosives to the Baltic Sea pipelines from a sailboat at roughly 80 meters depth, according to intent.press.

None of the outlets could independently confirm what exactly Zhuravlyov's role on the production was. LTO reported he worked as an adviser on the film, but Meduza noted that LTO does not specify what he actually did on set, and no other outlet has confirmed the detention happened during filming itself. AFP said it could not immediately verify the claim with German or Croatian authorities. Reform.news reported that Zhuravlyov's Polish lawyer had previously denied rumors the Ukrainian traveled to Croatia on vacation, telling the Polish press agency PAP: "I do not know the reasons why he went there, but I assume they were substantial and important."

A Legal Rerun, This Time in Croatia

This isn't Zhuravlyov's first arrest. Germany issued a warrant for him in 2024 while he was in Poland, but he left for Ukraine before it could be enforced, according to Meduza. He returned to Warsaw in 2025 and was detained again, only for a Polish court to refuse extradition, ruling that any Ukrainian attack on the pipelines would have counted as a legitimate act of war rather than a crime, according to Euronews and The Japan Times.

Now a Croatian court will effectively have to weigh in on a question already decided by a fellow EU member state. Zhuravlyov's Polish defense lawyer, Tymoteusz Paprocki, told The Guardian the case will again be "precedent-setting" because Croatia will be revisiting a matter Poland already resolved.

German prosecutors allege Zhuravlyov worked closely with Serhiy Kuznetsov, another Ukrainian diver arrested in Italy in 2025 and extradited to Germany, where he's now on trial. Breitbart reported that German broadcaster NTV obtained a prison phone recording in which Kuznetsov allegedly told his wife he acted on orders from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the SBU security service and reportedly asked to speak with a commander referred to as "Roman," believed to be a reference to Roman Chervinsky, a former Ukrainian special forces colonel long tied to the plot in reporting from the Washington Post and Der Spiegel.

Both Zhuravlyov and Kuznetsov have denied involvement in the bombing, according to The Guardian. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly said his government knew nothing about any plan to destroy the pipelines, a position multiple outlets, including Euronews, Courthouse News Service and The Japan Times, reported without dispute.

Awkward for Berlin and Kyiv Alike

The Wall Street Journal has previously reported, and Meduza's timeline reflects, that Zelensky allegedly tried to call off the sabotage operation after a warning from the CIA, but that then-military chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi pressed ahead regardless. Breitbart's sourcing adds that Zaluzhnyi is alleged to have received the order chain from senior Ukrainian officials. None of this has been proven in court, and it remains an allegation from investigative reporting, not a judicial finding.

Germany has strongly backed Ukraine's war effort against Russia, which makes prosecuting an alleged Ukrainian saboteur a politically uncomfortable position for Berlin. Euronews, Courthouse News and The Japan Times all reported that German officials, when pressed on the case, have pointed to judicial independence rather than commenting on the merits.

Russia has previously tried to pin the attack on Britain, an accusation London called "false claims of an epic scale," per Breitbart's sourcing. German investigators, per multiple outlets, now largely believe the operation was ordered by a Ukrainian state entity aiming to cut off future Russian energy revenue funding the war.

Zhuravlyov's lawyers are expected to fight extradition to Germany, where a conviction could carry a lengthy prison sentence. Whether Croatian courts follow Poland's "act of war" reasoning or side with Germany's criminal case will determine whether this Nord Stream suspect ever faces trial at all.