The defense attorney of the Ukrainian citizen suspected by Germany of blowing up the Nord Stream pipeline announced that on Friday an appeal will be filed against the decision to place Volodymyr Z. in temporary detention for a period of seven days. The lawyer pointed out inaccuracies in the German documents.
On Wednesday, the District Court in Warsaw granted the prosecution’s request for a seven-day temporary detention of Volodymyr Z. As stated in a declaration by his defense attorney, lawyer Tymoteusz Paprocki, the court will probably set another detention hearing for Monday. Volodymyr Z. is wanted under a European Arrest Warrant (ENA), issued by the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, in connection with suspicion of constitutional sabotage, destruction of property, and the destruction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. “At present, Volodymyr Z. is being held in the Warsaw Remand Centre, and on Friday morning the defense will file an appeal against Wednesday’s decision on seven-day temporary detention. In this way my client shows that he does not agree with the court’s decision, even though the Court of Appeal will not have time to examine the appeal by October 7,” the lawyer said.
Efforts for non-custodial measures
He added that if the prosecution files a request to extend the temporary detention, the defense will seek the application of non-custodial preventive measures, including bail, so that the man could answer from liberty.
“My client never left Polish territory. Information about his departure to Ukraine is not confirmed in the documentation concerning his stay. Volodymyr Z. conducted business in Poland in the field of installation and maintenance of ventilation and air-conditioning systems. He stayed in Poland legally. He had legalized temporary residence and a residence card. He arrived with his family in 2022, before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. He ran his own business and lived in Pruszków near Warsaw,” lawyer Paprocki stated. He reminded that his client’s arrest took place on Tuesday at his place of residence and proceeded peacefully. “Volodymyr Z. voluntarily submitted himself to the authorities,” emphasized Paprocki.
The lawyer added that the warrant for his client was issued on June 5, 2024, and forwarded to Poland. “The European Arrest Warrant has so far been applied in Poland against people suspected of such crimes as murder, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and car theft, which is why this procedure is so simple and quick. It has never before been used in a case like this,” Paprocki underlined in his statement.
Incorrect data in German documents
He noted that his client was aware of the existence of the warrant, but nevertheless did not hide or leave his place of residence. “The reasons why the Polish authorities carried out the arrest only after more than a year remain unknown to me,” he stressed. “I do not know why the Polish authorities decided to arrest my client only in September 2025, when the ENA was issued as early as June 2024,” the defense attorney of Volodymyr Z. pointed out.
He drew attention to the fact that in the warrant “issued by the German side, incorrect personal data of my client were indicated, i.e. an incorrect spelling of his first and last name.” In media reports, Volodymyr Z. also appears as Wołodymyr Ż.
His house searched a year ago
The lawyer also indicated that his client spent most of this time in Poland, at a place of residence known to the investigative authorities. “The fact is that on the day his house was searched, which happened a year ago, he was not at home. However, he was fully aware of these activities, and yet he did not take any actions aimed at hiding from the Polish authorities,” said lawyer Paprocki.
He recalled that the District Court in Warsaw will consider the request regarding the admissibility of his client’s extradition to Germany and will issue a ruling on this within 100 days. By Tuesday, however, the court will decide whether Volodymyr Z. will answer from liberty or remain in temporary detention.
He emphasized that the defense will consistently act in the interest of Volodymyr Z., “using all legal remedies provided for under Polish and international law.”
“At present, the defense’s priority is that my client can participate in the proceedings from liberty, because there are no circumstances that would justify applying an isolating preventive measure against him,” lawyer Paprocki stated.
The destruction of three out of four lines of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, intended for the transport of natural gas from Russia to Germany, took place on September 26, 2022 (more than seven months after the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine) at a depth of about 80 meters, on the bottom of the Baltic Sea. According to the German prosecutor’s office, those responsible for destroying the pipeline used a yacht that set sail from the port of Rostock. The vessel was allegedly rented from a German company on the basis of false identity documents and with the help of intermediaries. According to investigators, divers attached at least four explosive charges to the pipeline lines, and after the operation, they were picked up by a driver and taken to Ukraine.