Actor Arrested in Croatia While Filming Movie About Baltic Pipeline Blast

Volodymyr Zhuravlyov is now behind bars in Croatia for a crime allegedly committed while filming a movie about that very crime. The incident occurred on Wednesday when Pula police acted on a European arrest warrant sent from Germany. Berlin wants this man back to face trial there, but the suspect was caught at work on the set of 'Snake Island,' a film directed by Doug Liman with Sean Penn and Adrien Brody in leading roles.

Prosecutors claim Zhuravlyov is a trained diver who helped place explosives under the Baltic Sea energy link that blew up three pipelines in 2022. German officials say he was strongly suspected of causing explosions, committing anti-constitutional sabotage, and destroying buildings. He served as an advisor for the production according to media reports before his arrest stopped the filming process temporarily.

No one has ever officially claimed responsibility for these blasts that crippled gas lines carrying fuel from Russia to Europe. This event marked a massive escalation in the war and worsened energy shortages across the continent. German investigators believe a Ukrainian state agency ordered the strike to cut off Russian money needed to fund its military campaign against Kyiv months after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The suspect had previously been detained in Poland for his alleged part in destroying those pipelines. Authorities there refused to send him to Germany and let him go because they judged any such attack would be a legitimate act of war rather than a standard crime. This decision creates political awkwardness since Berlin has strongly backed Kyiv in its fight against Russia.

Prosecutors claim Zhuravlyov worked closely with Sergiy Kuznetsov, another Ukrainian man arrested in Italy last year before extradition to Germany took place. German government officials point to the independence of the judiciary when asked about these conflicting views on what constitutes a crime versus an act of war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated his government knew nothing about any plan to blow up the pipelines despite these accusations.