Ukraine diver arrested over Nord Stream pipeline blast nicked while working on set of Hollywood movie starring Sean Penn

A UKRAINIAN diver who was arrested over the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline was reportedly detained while working on the set of a Hollywood film about the attack. Volodymyr Zhuravlyov was arrested in Pula, Croatia on Wednesday on a warrant from Germany. A Ukrainian diver who was arrested over the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline attack was reportedly detained while working on a film about the blast Credit: Reuters The movie starring director Doug Liman and Adrien Brody is being shot in Croatia Credit: Splash He is accused of acting alongside a group who planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the island of Bornholm in September 2022, German prosecutors have said. Three of the four pipelines connecting Russia and Germany were blown up in the attack that came just months after Vladimir Putin launched his full scale invasion of Ukraine. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! At the time of his arrest, Zhuravlyov was reportedly working as an advisor on a movie about the gas pipeline blasts, starring Adrien Brody and three-time Oscar winner Sean Penn. He was on the set of Snake Island by US director Doug Liman, Germany’s Legal Tribune Online reported. Zhuravlyov had already been arrested last year in Poland over the undersea plot. But the country refused to allow his extradition to neighbouring Germany. Polish authorities released Zhuravlyov, judging that a Ukrainian attack on the pipelines would have been a legitimate act of war, not a crime. German investigators think the attack was ordered by the Ukrainian state, aiming to choke off Mad Vlad’s energy exports that could have been used to bolster his war chest. Most read in The Sun Pipes at the landfall facilities of the ‘Nord Stream 1’ gas pipeline in Lubmin, Germany Credit: Reuters Drone footage showed around 165ft of pipeline had been destroyed by the 2022 blasts Credit: Unknown German prosecutors said Zhuravlyov, who will now be extradited to Germany, “participated in the necessary dives”. Last year, a Ukrainian suspect identified only as Serhiy Kuznetsov was detained in Misano Adriatrico, near the Italian city of Rimini. The Ukrainian national has continued to deny having any involvement in the attacks. Both Nord Stream pipelines were damaged by explosions under the Baltic Sea between Denmark and Sweden. The blasts caused four leaks as shocking images showed the twisted remains of the pipeline 262ft down in the Baltic Sea. Around 165ft of pipeline was destroyed or buried under the seafloor. The attacks sent millions of cubic metres of methane boiling to the sea’s surface and pushed sky-high gas prices even higher – they even caused a mini earthquake. Kuznetsov and Zhuravlyov are alleged to have used a yacht to sail from the German port of Rostock to the site of the pipelines. They used fake IDs and intermediaries to get the vessel, prosecutors believe. The dangerous blasts sparked months of fury over who was behind the attack. Security experts initially blamed Russian sabotage, as both Ukraine and Poland pointed the finger at Moscow. Putin had been previously accused of weaponising the energy crisis in a bid to pile pressure on the West. Russia denied all the allegations at the time, calling them “predictable and stupid”. Despite the suspects being Ukrainian, officials in Kyiv have also repeatedly denied any role. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his government knew nothing about any plan to blow up the pipelines. Comment now