Ukrainian ex-officer goes on trial in Germany over 2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage

A former Ukrainian military officer, Sergiy Kuznietsov, goes on trial in Hamburg, Germany, accused of orchestrating the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline bombings. He faces charges including carrying out a war crime and attacking civilian infrastructure. The trial is the first over the sabotage, with investigators alleging he led a team that planted explosives on the pipelines under the Baltic Sea.

A former Ukrainian military officer, Sergiy Kuznietsov, is set to become the first person to stand trial over the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline bombings when proceedings begin in a German court Wednesday. In September 2022, seven months after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a series of blasts under the Baltic Sea damaged three of the four Nord Stream pipelines designed to carry Russian gas to Europe. While some in the West were quick to accuse Russia of sabotaging its own export route, German investigators identified a cell of Ukrainians they say were the alleged perpetrators. Kuznietsov was arrested in Italy in August last year while on holiday with his family, and extradited to Germany the following month. Investigators allege the former Ukrainian special forces officer led a small group comprising professional divers, an explosives expert, and a boat skipper that planted explosives on the pipelines. Kuznietsov, standing trial at a Hamburg court, will face charges including carrying out a "war crime," attacking civilian infrastructure and causing an explosion. According to the indictment, he entered Germany in early September 2022 using a forged Ukrainian passport and, together with the rest of the sabotage team, boarded a rented yacht in the German Baltic Sea port city of Rostock. The yacht was allegedly loaded with large quantities of military-grade explosives and set sail for a spot where the pipelines ran under the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm. Divers then allegedly planted explosive charges equipped with timers on the pipelines, which blew up several days later. Kuznietsov's lawyers unsuccessfully tried to challenge the German court's jurisdiction over the attacks, and suggested they may argue that the pipelines were legitimate military targets in Ukraine's fight against Russia's invasion. The pipelines were built and owned by a corporate consortium led by Russian energy giant Gazprom. Moscow had already suspended gas deliveries to western Europe through Nord Stream 1 after the EU imposed sanctions over the war in Ukraine. Nord Stream 2 had only just been completed and never entered service. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he expects "that those who carried it out will be named, along with those who ordered it." A senior Ukrainian official told AFP that Kyiv has "no expectations from the trial." Another suspect, partially identified as Volodymyr Z., was arrested in Croatia in August and is accused of taking part as a diver. The article also includes a reader appeal for financial support.