Ukraine: Hamburg judges reject discontinuation of Nord Stream trial
Unlike the defenders of the accused Ukrainian, the judges see no signs of an unfair trial. An expert explains how the massive explosions could have occurred.
Hamburg - The Hamburg court hearing for one of the alleged perpetrators of the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines has dismissed the defense's request to terminate the proceedings. The Hanseatic Regional Court ruled that the defendant, Ukrainian officer Serhii Kusnetzow, is not restricted in his defense under German law. Kusnetzow is accused of leading a secret command operation involving seven Ukrainians in September 2022, which resulted in the destruction of the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines between Russia and Germany in the Baltic Sea.
He is charged with committing a war crime by attacking civilian infrastructure. The criminal trial in Hamburg has been underway since mid-October. The defense had argued that as a Ukrainian special forces officer, Kusnetzow was bound by a duty of secrecy, making a fair trial impossible. Two testimonies from his superiors were read out in court, confirming that they would not release him from his oath of silence and could potentially face up to eight years in prison in Ukraine for perjury.
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