The story has all the hallmarks of a Hollywood script. Volodymyr Zhuravlev, a Ukrainian diver suspected by German authorities of participating in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022, was arrested in Croatia while working on Snake Island , a political thriller starring Sean Penn and Adrien Brody whose plot is directly inspired by the pipeline attack. He was apprehended on Wednesday in Pula, a coastal city in northern Croatia, under a European arrest warrant issued by Germany. Croatian authorities arrested him at a hotel in the city, where part of the film's production was based. He has since been detained pending proceedings regarding his possible extradition to Germany.
A diver suspected of planting the explosives
Volodymyr Zhuravlev is considered by German investigators to be one of the members of the group involved in the operation against Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2. An experienced diver, he is suspected of having taken part in the dives during which explosives were allegedly planted on the underwater pipelines in the Baltic Sea, near the Danish island of Bornholm. On September 26, 2022, several explosions caused significant leaks on the two gas pipelines linking Russia to Germany. Three of the four pipelines were severely damaged. The infrastructure was at the heart of energy tensions triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine a few months earlier. The German investigation has gradually focused on a group of Ukrainians who allegedly used a chartered sailboat under false identities to reach the explosion site. Investigators suspect the participants of having transported on board the equipment necessary for the dives and the placement of the explosive charges. Zhuravlev denies the accusations against him.
Already wanted since 2024
Volodymyr Zhuravlev's name had already surfaced publicly in 2024. A first European arrest warrant was then issued to the Polish authorities. He was in Poland but had returned to Ukraine before his arrest. The case took another turn in September 2025. Zhuravlev was finally arrested near Warsaw pursuant to the German warrant. However, a few weeks later, the Polish courts refused to extradite him to Germany and ordered his release. He was thus freed despite the ongoing legal proceedings in Berlin. Almost a year later, his presence in Croatia allowed the authorities to make another arrest. This time, Berlin hopes to secure his transfer to Germany so that he can be prosecuted in the Nord Stream case.
Consultant on a film about… Nord Stream
The reason for his presence in Pula adds a particularly surprising dimension to the case. Zhuravlev reportedly worked as a technical consultant on Snake Island , the new film by American director Doug Liman, known for The Bourne Identity , Mr. & Mrs. Smith , and Edge of Tomorrow . The thriller stars Sean Penn and Adrien Brody, and filming began this summer in Croatia. Several districts of Zagreb were transformed to represent war-torn Ukraine before production moved to the Croatian coast. Crucially, the story of Snake Island is directly inspired by the events surrounding the Nord Stream sabotage. The film depicts a team of Ukrainian divers engaged in a clandestine operation against the backdrop of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Zhuravlev, whom German authorities suspect of having been one of the divers in the actual 2022 operation, would therefore have lent his expertise to a Hollywood production telling a story remarkably similar to the one for which he is wanted. His involvement in the filming as a consultant has been reported on several occasions, although the exact circumstances of his recruitment and the precise nature of his work on the film remain to be established.
Another suspect already being prosecuted in Germany
Volodymyr Zhuravlev is not the only Ukrainian targeted by the investigation. Serhii K., a former Ukrainian soldier, is also suspected of having participated in the operation. Arrested in Italy in 2025, he was subsequently extradited to Germany. He denies the accusations against him. German investigators are now seeking to determine precisely the composition of the group involved in the sabotage, the possible chain of command, and the conditions under which the operation was organized. Kyiv, for its part, has always denied any involvement of the Ukrainian state in the destruction of the gas pipelines.
Croatia must now decide on his transfer
Croatian authorities must now examine the European arrest warrant for Zhuravlev and decide whether to extradite him to Germany. A judge has ordered his continued detention during this process, and his defense team intends to appeal this decision. More than three years after the Nord Stream explosions, one of the main suspects in the German investigation is once again behind bars. And with a twist that's hard to imagine: when he was found in Croatia, he was working on a Hollywood film starring Sean Penn and Adrien Brody, inspired by the sabotage for which German authorities are seeking him.
