Last week, a Ukrainian man was arrested in Italy, suspected of having sabotaged Nord Stream.
At the time, it was said that the man had been part of a group that placed explosive devices on the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2.
Now, the newspapers Süddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit, as well as the public service company ARD, report that there are German arrest warrants issued against five additional Ukrainian citizens for involvement in the sabotage. Another Ukrainian is believed to have died after the explosions.
The seven are believed to be all involved in the attack off Bornholm in September 2022.
And what the media has found out resembles something from a spy novel or a James Bond movie.
Fingerprints and fake passports
The group rented a sailboat in Rostock under false names to carry out the sabotage, and on board were the leader, four divers, a explosives expert and one who was in command of the boat.
The latter is described as a "highly experienced sailor from Odessa who has competed all over the world". His fingerprints, taken during a visa application to the Netherlands, are said to have been found on the rented boat "Andromeda".
The arrested 49-year-old man is said to have been the leader of the group. Another is a woman who has connections to a diving school in Kyiv. And they all had double fake passports - a Romanian one with names and information from real living people, and a Ukrainian one with false information.
State help?
The sabotage has previously been reported to have been carried out with the knowledge of the Ukrainian military. The media now writes that the investigation has strengthened the suspicions that they received "state help" from Ukraine.
In addition to the fake passports, one in the group is said to have been driven from Poland to Ukraine last year in a car belonging to Ukraine's military attaché in Poland, "possibly to avoid being arrested", reports ARD.
The media also repeats the information that came out over the weekend, that the group used four timed explosive charges, each weighing between 14 and 27 kilograms and consisting of a mixture of the powerful military explosives hexogen and octogen.
In September 2022, it was discovered that the gas pipelines Nord Stream 1 and 2, which run from Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, had sprung a leak.
Seismic measurements showed that explosions had occurred in the sea shortly before, and later Swedish prosecutors confirmed that the pipelines had been blown up.
Investigations have been initiated and closed in both Sweden and Denmark, while a German investigation into "constitutionally hostile sabotage" is still ongoing.
Several international media, including Der Spiegel, have previously reported source information that the explosion was planned and carried out with the knowledge of the Ukrainian military.
