Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office said that Ukrainian citizen Serhii Kuznetsov, who is accused in the case over the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, acted as a Ukrainian service member and “on behalf of Ukrainian state authorities.”
According to prosecutors, in 2022 Kuznetsov was an officer in the Ukrainian army and, together with other service members, took part in preparing an act of sabotage against the pipelines on the floor of the Baltic Sea. German prosecutors say the aim of the operation was to halt Russian gas supplies to Europe and deprive Russia of revenue from its exports.
Investigators believe that a group of military personnel and specialists was created to carry out the attack. According to prosecutors, its members used forged documents, rented a yacht in Germany, and transported explosives to the area around the island of Bornholm.
There, prosecutors allege, the group planted explosive devices with timers. They detonated on September 26, 2022, damaging both strings of the pipelines.
Prosecutors say Kuznetsov led the group. He was detained in Italy in August 2025 under a European warrant and later extradited to Germany.
Kuznetsov has been charged, among other offenses, with a war crime—an attack on civilian infrastructure—as well as organizing explosions, destroying structures, and disrupting the operation of public facilities.
Spiegel previously reported that Ukrainian “sabotage specialists” discussed a plan to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines with the CIA at a meeting in Kyiv.
Bild later wrote that a former erotic model from Kyiv may have been involved in the pipeline sabotage.
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