{
  "id": 16859425,
  "title": "Ukraine: Hamburg judges reject discontinuation of Nord Stream trial",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/28/ukraine-hamburger-richter-lehnen-einstellung-des-nord-stream",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-28T06:28:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/ukraine-hamburger-richter-lehnen-einstellung-des-nord-stream-prozesses-ab-01/100263973.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "A Hamburg court has rejected a request to halt the trial of Serhii Kusnetzow, a Ukrainian ex-officer accused of masterminding the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September 2022. The defendant's lawyers argued that Kusnetzow was bound by a secrecy obligation as a former member of a Ukrainian special unit, but the court ruled that this did not restrict his right to a fair trial. The trial will continue, with expert Thomas Forster from the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) testifying about the explosions, which caused extensive damage to the pipelines. Forster described the blasts as generating a force comparable to a rocket engine, causing segments of the pipeline to buckle and resulting in massive gas leaks.",
  "summary": "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.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}