Key facts
- Serhii K, a former Ukrainian special forces soldier, is accused of leading the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.
- German police allege he acted on behalf of Ukrainian state agencies.
- The Nord Stream pipelines were ruptured by explosions on September 26, 2022.
- Serhii K was arrested in Italy on August 18, 2023, and faces charges including war crime.
- Both Serhii K and Ukraine have denied any involvement in the sabotage.
- Volodymyr Zhuravlyov, another suspect, is fighting extradition from Croatia.
A trial is set to begin next week in Hamburg for Serhii K, a former Ukrainian special forces soldier accused by German police of orchestrating the September 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. German authorities allege that Serhii K, identified during extradition proceedings as Serhii Kuznetsov and Serhii Kulinich, acted on behalf of "state agencies of Ukraine" when four high-performance explosive devices detonated beneath the Baltic Sea, rupturing the pipelines that supplied Russian gas to Germany.
Prosecutors claim Serhii K led a crew using a rented yacht, the Andromeda, and that DNA evidence allegedly left on the boat led investigators to him. While initial suspicions after the blasts on September 26, 2022, pointed towards Russia due to its history of hybrid attacks and use of energy for political leverage, German police pursued forensic evidence that eventually led them to Ukraine. Serhii K was arrested in Italy on August 18, 2023, after being detected entering Poland, and faces charges including causing an explosion and a war crime for attacking civilian infrastructure.
Both Serhii K and Ukraine have denied any involvement in the sabotage. A source close to the case suggested that admitting involvement would make any perpetrator a target for Russia. The Nord Stream pipelines were a significant investment for Moscow and a source of leverage over Europe, making them a target of loathing for Ukraine, the US, and Poland. Ukrainian contacts expressed frustration that Germany, an ally, was pursuing prosecution, with one source stating that many Ukrainians believed blowing up the pipelines was beneficial for their country.
Another suspect, Volodymyr Zhuravlyov, is currently fighting extradition from Croatia. He was arrested in Warsaw last year on a German warrant but a Polish judge refused extradition, ruling that a Ukrainian attack on Nord Stream could be considered a "just" act in the ongoing conflict. The case raises complex questions about legitimate military targets outside of active war zones. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously denied Ukraine's involvement, and a foreign ministry spokesman argued that the focus should be on the pipelines' role in enabling Russia's war rather than on who destroyed them.