German prosecutors charge Nord Stream pipeline sabotage suspect
· The Straits Times- German prosecutors have charged Serhii Kuznietsov, a Ukrainian national, for the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
- Kuznietsov allegedly led the operation, used forged documents to charter a yacht, and incriminated himself in phone calls while in Italian custody.
- Seven suspects have been identified, with one dead; Ukraine denies any knowledge of the pipeline attack plans.
BERLIN - German prosecutors said on July 1 they had brought charges against a suspect in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline linking Russia with Europe.
Federal prosecutors confirmed to AFP that a man had been charged over the explosion, with German media reporting that he was a Ukrainian national said to be the head of the team that carried out the operation.
They said he was the same suspect who was arrested in summer 2025 in Italy and extradited to Germany the following November, who was named at the time as Serhii Kuznietsov.
The law firm representing him confirmed to AFP that their client was being charged with “attacks on civilian energy infrastructure, causing an explosives detonation, and demolition of built structures”.
Kuznietsov is thought by investigators to have been in command on the yacht used to carry out the operation, according to media reports.
He is now reportedly in detention in Hamburg, where he will face trial.
The evidence gathered against him is described as “overwhelming”, as he allegedly incriminated himself during phone calls he made to relatives and acquaintances when he was in custody in Italy.
At the time of his arrest, German prosecutors said Kuznietsov had used forged identity documents to charter a yacht, which departed from the German city of Rostock to carry out the attacks.
The ARD broadcaster said that investigators had found traces of military explosives on the yacht and that a total of seven suspects had been identified in the case, one of whom had since died fighting Russia.
In 2025, a Polish court refused a German extradition request for another Ukrainian suspect in the Nord Stream case.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his government knew nothing about any plan to blow up the pipelines. AFP