Ukrainian officer faces trial over Nord Stream pipeline sabotage

Nord Stream sabotage trial opens in Hamburg with Ukrainian officer charged

A former Ukrainian army officer identified in Italian extradition proceedings as Serhii Kuznietsov goes on trial Wednesday at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg, facing charges that include causing an explosion, damaging critical infrastructure, and acting as an accomplice to war crimes.

German prosecutors allege Kuznietsov organized and executed the detonation of at least four underwater bombs, each between 14 and 27 kilograms, at depths of 70 to 80 meters near the Danish island of Bornholm on 26 September 2022. The blasts ruptured Nord Stream 1 and damaged Nord Stream 2, which had never entered commercial service after Germany suspended its certification days before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The trial reopens one of the most politically sensitive sabotage investigations of the war. Early suspicion fell on Russia. German prosecutors now allege Ukrainian involvement, placing Berlin in the position of prosecuting an act that may have been carried out by an ally.