Ukrainian national accused of helping orchestrate the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines appeared before a court in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday, 14 October, becoming the first suspect to stand trial over an attack that remains one of the most consequential acts of sabotage in recent European history, BBC.com reports.
The Nord Stream pipeline, which used to transfer natural gas from Russia to Western Europe, blew up and was rendered non-operational in September 2022. However, it had already stopped gas transport in August 2022 due to the outbreak of the Russo–Ukrainian war.
50-year-old Serhii Kuznetsov is accused by German prosecutors of playing a leading role in the operation, allegedly coordinating professional divers and an explosives expert to target civilian infrastructure. Prosecutors are pursuing the case as a war crime. Kuznetsov is denying the allegations. His defence team has called for the proceedings to be dismissed, arguing that the evidence against him is insufficient and that his extradition to Germany was legally flawed. His counsel argues that there is no physical evidence, such as DNA or fingerprints, linking his client to the crime.
The case carries considerable diplomatic sensitivity. Germany has been among Ukraine’s closest supporters since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, just seven months before the pipeline explosions.
Nevertheless, German authorities have continued their investigation despite the potential implications for relations between Berlin and Kyiv.
Kuznetsov, who was extradited from Italy last year, entered the courtroom before a packed public gallery, appearing relaxed and occasionally smiling, according to BBC reporting. Previously identified publicly only as Serhii K, with his face obscured in photographs, he has now waived his anonymity, according to a court spokeswoman. Wearing headphones, he followed the proceedings through a Ukrainian-language translation as prosecutors presented the charges against him.
German prosecutors claim that the alleged destruction of the pipelines constitutes an attack on civilian objects using military means, bringing the case within Germany’s code of crimes against international law. In January 2025, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice ruled that the case fell within the country’s territorial jurisdiction and that prosecutors had a responsibility to pursue it because the attack allegedly undermined Germany’s internal security.
How Investigators Traced the Alleged Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage Team
The explosions occurred on 26 September 2022 in the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm, damaging three of the four pipelines belonging to the Nord Stream network.
In the immediate aftermath, Western attention turned towards Russia, although Western governments initially stopped short of assigning direct responsibility. Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin of Russia subsequently accused the United States and the United Kingdom of responsibility, blaming what he called the ‘Anglo-Saxons’. Both countries rejected the accusations.
Investigators in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany initially worked to establish who was responsible.
Denmark and Sweden eventually discontinued their respective investigations, while German prosecutors concentrated on a group of deep-sea divers who had allegedly rented a yacht named Andromeda from the northern German port of Rostock.
German authorities later reported finding traces of underwater explosives in samples collected from the vessel. Their investigation ultimately led to the case now being heard in Hamburg.
According to the indictment, the alleged saboteurs devised their plan while acting on orders from Ukrainian state agencies. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, however, has consistently denied that Ukraine was involved in the blasts.
In August 2025 Italian police detained Kuznetsov after he checked into a hotel near the Adriatic resort of Rimini, acting on a European arrest warrant issued by German federal prosecutors. Following several weeks of legal proceedings over his extradition, he was transferred to Germany later that year.
‘President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, however, has consistently denied that Ukraine was involved in the blasts’
German prosecutors allege that Kuznetsov was serving as an officer in the Ukrainian army in 2022 and led a team that included professional divers, a boat captain and an explosives specialist.
Another Ukrainian national, Volodymyr Zhuravlov, has also been linked to the investigation. Zhuravlov successfully challenged Germany’s extradition request in Poland. In October 2025 a Polish judge ordered his release, reasoning that the alleged attack was not unlawful and that an armed operation organized by Ukraine could be considered justified in the circumstances of the war.
Zhuravlov was subsequently arrested in Croatia in August, on suspicion of participating in the dives required to carry out the pipeline sabotage. Croatia approved his extradition to Germany last month, although the timing of his transfer remains unclear. It is also uncertain whether he could eventually face proceedings connected to the Hamburg case.