Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlev, whom German law enforcement authorities suspect of involvement in the bombing of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, has applied to the Croatian authorities for political asylum, as he believes he will not be able to receive a fair trial in Germany, Suspilne reported on Tuesday.
According to his attorney, Mykola Katerynchuk, Zhuravlev decided to seek political asylum from the Croatian authorities out of concern that he would not be able to count on a fair trial in Germany. At the same time, the defense attorney noted that this appeal does not in itself halt the extradition proceedings.
"Volodymyr Zhuravlev has filed an application for political asylum in Croatia, arguing that he will not receive a fair trial in Germany," the lawyer's statement reads.
As previously reported, Croatia has ruled to extradite Ukrainian citizen Zhuravlev to Germany, where German authorities suspect him of sabotaging the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
It was noted that Zhuravlev's lawyers noted in early September that the extradition hearing in the case of Ukrainian citizen Zhuravlev – who is accused in Germany of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines – had been postponed, because the German authorities had updated the European arrest warrant and added a new charge to it – "war crime."
It was previously reported that on August 19, German prosecutors detained Zhuravlev in Croatia and charged him with conspiracy to commit an explosion, unconstitutional sabotage, and destruction of infrastructure. According to the German investigation, he was one of the divers who planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in 2022. After his extradition from Croatia, Zhuravlev is to be transferred to a German federal court.
This is already the third attempt by German investigators to detain him. In 2024, an attempt was made to arrest Zhuravlev in Poland, but he managed to flee to Ukraine.
