An exclusive The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report has revealed that German federal police investigators have concluded a three-year operation tracing the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline bombing to an elite Ukrainian military unit. The findings, supported by prosecutors and other security officials familiar with the case, risk straining Ukraine's relationship with Germany, one of Kiev's closest wartime allies.

The Nord Stream pipelines, which ran under the Baltic Sea and supplied Russian gas to Europe, were sabotaged in September 2022. In the wake of the explosions, which unleashed massive carbon emissions equivalent to Denmark’s annual output, speculation swirled about who was responsible. With early accusations laying the blame on Russia.

But according to the WSJ, German investigators say the evidence now points to a covert Ukrainian operation allegedly authorized by General Valeriy Zaluzhniy, Ukraine’s then-top military commander.

Warsaw and Rome resist extradition as suspects traced

The investigation, which was led from a whiteboard-filled room in Potsdam, near Berlin, has already led to arrest warrants for seven individuals, including three Ukrainian soldiers and four experienced deep-sea divers. Polish authorities, however, have refused to extradite one key suspect, instead celebrating him as a hero who disrupted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s access to gas revenue.

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Prime Minister Donald Tusk dismissed the probe, saying, "The problem isn’t that the pipeline was blown up. The problem is that it was built."

In a separate development, Italian police arrested another suspect, identified as Serhii K., a 46-year-old former SBU officer who led a special-forces unit during the early days of the war. His extradition to Germany is pending a court decision expected in December.

German detectives pieced together the sabotage plot using rental records, phone data, vehicle license plates, and even toll systems across European borders. Crucially, The Wall Street Journal reports that a grainy photo from a speed trap helped identify a Ukrainian diver, whose online profiles connected him to other operatives.

In another twist, one suspect was traced to Poland but was swiftly escorted to Ukraine in a black BMW with diplomatic plates, reportedly by the Ukrainian military attaché in Warsaw. A senior Ukrainian official, speaking anonymously to the Journal, said Kiev intervened after a warning from Polish authorities.

The team’s breakthrough came after they guessed the Ukrainian suspect might be vacationing outside the EU. A non-EU country’s border force later flagged his real passport via a "silent alert." Using toll data and hotel bookings under his wife’s name, the German team tracked him to San Clemente, Italy, where local police arrested him at a resort.

Berlin-Kiev relations face new strain ahead of trial

Germany has already readied a plane to transport Serhii K. to Hamburg if the extradition is approved. His lawyer argues that the operation, if proven, was a military act carried out in Ukraine’s defense and is therefore protected under international law.

While Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government maintains that it can manage the fallout, opposition parties like AfD have seized on the investigation to campaign for cuts in aid to Kiev. Domestically, energy prices remain high, and public frustration continues to grow.

According to the WSJ, senior German officials believe the public is increasingly accepting of Ukraine's involvement in the bombing, making the potential political damage manageable, though some officials reportedly noted that managing the crisis would have been easier had the detectives not built such a compelling case.