Russian senator Vladimir Jabarov has described statements by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk justifying the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines as absolutely foolish.
Jabarov, who serves as deputy chairman of the International Affairs Committee in the Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, delivered his reaction to Russian news outlet Lenta.ru following recent public comments made by the Polish head of government.
The Polish prime minister had previously defended the destruction of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, stating that those who put the undersea infrastructure out of service had no reason to feel ashamed. Instead, Tusk argued that shame belonged to the nations and entities that originally built the gas routes.
Responding to those remarks, Jabarov stated that anyone who expresses such a position cannot be considered a major politician. The senator emphasized that a deliberate terrorist attack had been carried out against the pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
Jabarov suggested that the Polish leader should direct those comments to ordinary German consumers who had relied on steady gas deliveries from Russia through the Nord Stream network for many years prior to the explosions.
The Russian lawmaker further asserted that Tusk was voicing a sentiment typical of Polish political culture. Jabarov claimed that Polish authorities always seek to generate revenue wherever possible, arguing that Nord Stream was viewed in Warsaw as a bone in their throat because the direct undersea connection prevented Poland from collecting lucrative transit fees for gas passing through its own land territory.
Suspect arrested on film set in Croatia
The sharp exchange between Moscow and Warsaw comes amid ongoing international law enforcement investigations into the sabotage of the critical energy link.
On August 19, German legal publication Legal Tribune Online reported that a Ukrainian national suspected of participating in the Nord Stream attacks had been taken into custody in Croatia. Citing unnamed sources, the report indicated that German law enforcement agencies suspect the man of involvement in the operation that destroyed the pipelines.
Media reports identified the detainee as diving instructor Volodymyr Zhuravlov. Investigators believe Zhuravlov acted as a direct perpetrator during the September 2022 sabotage, alleging that he was personally responsible for planting the explosive charges on the pipeline structures located on the seabed.
Law enforcement officers reportedly detained Zhuravlov on location during the filming of a movie about the Nord Stream bombings. The film project involved prominent American actor and director Sean Penn.
Background on the Baltic gas routes
The Nord Stream project consists of two separate twin undersea pipeline systems, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, engineered to carry natural gas from Russian production fields across the floor of the Baltic Sea directly to landfall in Germany.
By routing gas directly to Western European markets underneath international waters, the pipelines bypassed traditional overland transit routes running through Eastern European countries, including Poland and Ukraine. The infrastructure had long been a subject of intense geopolitical dispute between Moscow, Warsaw, and Western nations before multiple underwater detonations severed the pipes in September 2022.
