Germany charges Ukrainian man in Nord Stream pipeline blasts
Federal prosecutors accuse Serhii K of helping coordinate the 2022 sabotage that disabled the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
German federal prosecutors have charged a Ukrainian national over the 2022 explosions that wrecked the Nord Stream gas pipelines, advancing one of Europe’s most politically sensitive sabotage investigations. The case concerns attacks that disabled major routes built to carry Russian gas to Europe after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The suspect, identified in German court documents as Serhii K because of privacy rules, is 50 years old. Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office declined on Wednesday to discuss the details of the indictment.
German public broadcaster ARD reported that Serhii K is accused of attacking civilian energy infrastructure, causing an explosion and destroying structures. His Berlin-based lawyers at the Menaker firm have not released details about the indictment.
Alleged role on the yacht
The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were hit by underwater blasts in September 2022 near Denmark’s Bornholm Island. The damage was so severe that gas could no longer be moved through either pipeline.
In a December 2025 detention filing, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice said prosecutors suspected Serhii K of helping coordinate a group that used a sailing yacht called the Andromeda to place explosives on the pipelines. The filing alleged that he served as the on-board coordinator and team leader, rather than as a diver or explosives specialist.
Federal prosecutors confirmed to AFP that Serhii K is the same man arrested in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany the following November. At that time, he was named as Serhii Kuznietsov.
When German prosecutors announced his arrest, they said Kuznietsov had used forged identity papers to charter a yacht that left from the German port city of Rostock for the operation. He has denied taking part in the sabotage.
Ukraine says it has no details
Kuznietsov has said he was serving in Ukraine’s armed forces and was in Ukraine when the pipelines were attacked. His defence team has said that claim would give him “functional immunity” under international law.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was asked about the case by Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine during a news conference in Dublin on Wednesday. He said he could not yet address the charges in detail.
“We have not officially received any details; at least I have not seen them,” Zelenskyy said. “It is too early to say yet.”
Ukraine’s government has previously denied any role in the sabotage and has denied knowing of a plan to bomb the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.
The pipelines had been central to Russia’s gas links with Europe before the blasts. Their destruction added another rupture to energy ties already strained by Russia’s war in Ukraine and Europe’s efforts to reduce dependence on Russian supplies.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.