Germany puts Ukrainian on trial over Nord Stream sabotage

In a Hamburg court, Ukrainian national Serhii Kuznetsov faced trial on October 14, accused of participating in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. The pipelines, crucial gas links between Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea, suffered explosions in September 2022, destroying three out of four major pipelines. Kuznetsov, a former soldier, allegedly led a sabotage group comprising six others.

German authorities assert that he commanded the yacht Andromeda, from which a team of divers allegedly executed the attack on the pipelines. During the trial's opening, prosecutors alleged that Kuznetsov's actions constituted war crimes, as he committed an attack on civilian infrastructure. Both Kuznetsov and Ukraine have vehemently denied any involvement in the sabotage.

This marks the first trial connected to the Nord Stream sabotage, with the proceedings anticipated to continue until February. Kuznetsov was apprehended in August 2025 near the Italian town of Rimini under a European arrest warrant and subsequently extradited to Germany. Another Ukrainian suspect, Volodymyr Zhuravliov, was apprehended in Croatia in August 2026 and is awaiting extradition.

Zhuravliov was initially detained in Poland in September 2025, but due to a Polish court's refusal to extradite him to Germany, he was released a month later. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never came into operation, had been a contentious issue in European energy politics. Even prior to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, critics argued that the pipeline increased Germany's reliance on Russian gas and jeopardized European energy security.