Croatian police officers escort Ukrainian professional diver Volodymyr Zhuravlev (center) to a court in Pula, Croatia, on suspicion of involvement in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline. August 20, 2026. Photo: AFP
This could have been a Hollywood movie script—complete with unexpected twists. The bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipeline—which connected Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea—took place in 2022. Last Wednesday, Croatian authorities arrested Ukrainian diver Volodymyr Zhuravlev on suspicion of involvement in the attack. He was taken into custody while working on the set of a Hollywood movie currently in production.
German media reported that Zhuravlev, a scuba diver, was working as a consultant on the set of an upcoming Hollywood film titled Snake Island. Ironically, the movie is based on the very bombing incident in which he is alleged to have participated.
Let us delve into more details regarding Zhuravlev, the Nord Stream bombing, and the Hollywood connection.
Who is Volodymyr Zhuravlev?
Zhuravlev is a Ukrainian national. He is a professional scuba diver and diving instructor.
Some reports indicate that he is affiliated with a diving school in Kyiv.
Under German privacy laws, individuals are often identified only by their first name and initial; consequently, German court documents have occasionally referred to him as “Vladimir Z.”
According to German authorities, he is a key suspect in the September 2022 bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline. Reports confirm that Croatian authorities have arrested him.
However, Zhuravlev has denied any involvement in the sabotage. In 2024, Zhuravlev fled to Ukraine, evading arrest in Poland.
Last year, a Polish court refused to execute a European arrest warrant issued by Germany against him. The court ruled that German authorities lacked legal jurisdiction in this matter. Furthermore, the destruction of Nord Stream could be viewed as a legitimate act of self-defense by Ukraine in the war.
Poland has long opposed the Nord Stream projects.
It remains unclear whether Zhuravlev was staying in Croatia without the knowledge of local authorities; however, it was ultimately they who arrested him.
According to German federal prosecutors, local police detained Zhuravlev based on a European arrest warrant.
Zhuravlev’s lawyers will now attempt to prevent his extradition to Germany.
Last Thursday, The Guardian reported his Polish lawyer, Tymoteusz Paprocki, as saying that if a Croatian court were to hear the case, it would amount to ruling on a matter that had already been decided by Poland—another European Union member state.
What we know about the Nord Stream pipelines
On September 26, 2022, explosions occurred on two Nord Stream gas pipelines running from Russia to Germany.
The explosions damaged both the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. Nord Stream 2 had not yet become operational.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, built at a cost of approximately $11 billion, is owned by the Russian state-controlled energy company Gazprom. It runs from Russia to Germany beneath the Baltic Sea. Had it become operational, it would have doubled the capacity of the existing Nord Stream 1 route.
Berlin, the German capital, had long insisted that Nord Stream 2 was purely a commercial project.
However, geopolitical issues were also intertwined with it.
Since the pipeline bypasses Ukraine, Kyiv faced the risk of losing billions of dollars in annual transit fees—revenue it previously earned from the flow of Russian gas across its territory.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, these pipelines became symbols of Europe’s continued energy dependence on Moscow and the revenue the Kremlin derived from exports to the continent.
Although the explosions occurred in international waters, they took place within the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden.
No country has ever claimed responsibility for the explosions.
Denmark and Sweden closed their investigations into the blasts in 2024, but Germany is still investigating the case.
In July of this year, German federal prosecutors brought charges against a former Ukrainian military officer named Serhii K.
Prosecutors allege that he was acting on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence agencies.
Serhii was arrested in Italy in August 2025 based on a German arrest warrant. He was subsequently extradited to Germany in November 2025.
The Ukrainian government has denied any involvement in the pipeline explosion.
Prosecutors stated that Serhii K. led a team comprising professional divers, a boat skipper, and an explosives expert.
The suspects entered Germany in September 2022 using forged Ukrainian passports. They then boarded a yacht rented under false identities.
According to the prosecutors’ statement, the team transported a large quantity of military-grade explosives through international waters to an area near the Danish island of Bornholm. They then attached the explosives to the pipeline on the Baltic Sea bed and set time fuses to detonate them.
What is Zhuravlev’s connection to Hollywood?
German media reported that at the time of his arrest, Zhuravlev was working as a consultant on the set of the movie Snake Island. Filming was taking place in Zagreb, Croatia.
Snake Island is being directed by Doug Liman. He is also renowned for directing the 2002 thriller The Bourne Identity, the 2005 action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and the 2014 sci-fi film Edge of Tomorrow.
Liman’s upcoming fictional political thriller about the gas pipeline features Oscar-winning stars Sean Penn and Adrien Brody.
Brody was spotted at the film’s shooting location. Zhuravlev had also been seen at the same site just before his arrest.
