A Croatian court decided to extradite Volodymyr Zhuravlov to Germany

According to the Ukrainian website Suspilne, the Croatians' decision on extradition was made on September 18, but they were informed about it in writing five days later. "After this decision becomes final, the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs will transfer Volodymyr Zhuravlov to the competent authorities of Germany," the ruling said.

Żurawlow threatens to go on hunger strike

Zhuravlov's lawyer, Mykola Katerynchuk, described the decision as "biased and political" and announced he would appeal it.

The law firm run by Katerynczuk announced that Żurawlow would announce an indefinite hunger strike on Thursday in connection with his objection to the court's decision, which - as it was indicated - "ignored the ruling of the Polish court in a similar extradition case."

Germany sent two requests to Croatia for Żurawlow's extradition on the basis of European arrest warrants issued on June 5, 2024 and August 28, 2026. In the first case, the charges concerned sabotage against the constitutional order, intentional causing explosions and destruction of buildings. In the second case, the act was classified as a war crime related to the attack on civilian facilities and disruption of the functioning of municipal infrastructure.

The Croatian prosecutor's office supported extradition on the basis of both warrants.

They cited the decision of the Polish court

The defense cited, among others: to the ruling of the District Court in Warsaw of October 17, 2025, which refused to hand over Żurawlów to the Germans. She also argued that the non bis in idem principle applies in the case, according to which the same person cannot be prosecuted or punished again for the same act if the case has already been legally resolved.

The court in Pula rejected these arguments. He found that the Polish court's ruling does not oblige Croatia to refuse to execute the European arrest warrant, and the Croatian court should apply its own provisions.

Explosions on Nord Stream

According to German investigators, Zhuravlov was one of four Ukrainian divers who in September 2022 planted explosives on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.

The explosion of three of the four gas pipelines intended to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany occurred on September 26, 2022 near the Danish island of Bornholm. The diver claims that he had nothing to do with the attack and that he was in Ukraine at the time of the explosion.

Żurawlow had previously been detained in Poland, where he lived after leaving the country. In October 2025, the District Court in Warsaw refused to extradite him to Germany and lifted his provisional arrest, ordering his release.

The Ukrainian was detained again in Croatia on August 19, 2026. He came to Pula as a consultant in the production of a feature film about the sabotage of Nord Stream.

In Germany, Żurawlow could face up to 15 years in prison.