Nord Stream 1 and 2 are pipelines built to carry natural gas from Russia to Germany. Their majority owner is Gazprom, a Russian state-owned gas company. The pipelines deepened Europe's dependence on Russian gas and were a source of long-standing tension between Germany and Poland.
On September 26th 2022 someone blew up the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines. The explosions took place outside any country's territorial waters, creating jurisdictional ambiguity: under maritime law, trying crimes on ships in international waters is the responsibility of the country whose flag they carry, but pipelines have no flag.
German prosecutors issued a warrant for Volodymyr Zhuravlev, a Ukrainian diving instructor, whom they said was part of a seven-person team that carried out the attack. Mr Zhuravlev was arrested in Warsaw but denied the charges. On October 17th 2025 a Warsaw court refused to extradite him, ruling that the prosecution's connection to German jurisdiction—the demolition team having rented their yacht on Rugen, a German island—was insufficient. Polish prosecutors said they would not appeal, leaving him a free man.
Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, wrote on X on October 7th 2025: "The problem with North Stream 2 is not that it was blown up. The problem is that it was built." Polish leaders have long castigated Germany over the project. The episode underscored the difficult relationship between the two countries.
Try not to have a good time ... This is supposed to be educational.