Ukrainian man goes on trial in Hamburg over 2022 Nord Stream pipeline blasts

A Ukrainian man identified by German prosecutors as Serhii K. goes on trial in Hamburg on Wednesday, 14 October 2026. He is accused of involvement in the September 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. He is the first suspect to stand trial over the blasts.

On 26 September 2022, explosions destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, near the Danish island of Bornholm. The blasts came seven months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Nord Stream 2 was not operational at the time. Russia had already stopped or restricted gas flows through Nord Stream 1. According to Reuters, the attack cut western Europe off from its biggest source of Russian gas.

The accused is alleged to have organised or led the operation. Le Monde and Reuters describe him as a former Ukrainian military officer. According to BBC, prosecutors allege he was a serving army officer in 2022. He was arrested in Italy in August 2025 on a German European arrest warrant and later extradited. The case is being prosecuted as a war crime involving an attack on civilian infrastructure.

According to BBC, court documents name him as Serhii Kuznetsov; Le Monde spells it Kuznietsov. BBC reports that he denies the charges. According to DW, the charges include acting as an accomplice to a war crime, disruption of public services, causing an explosion and destroying structures.

BBC reports that prosecutors allege he led a group of divers, a boat captain and an explosives expert, who had rented a yacht called the Andromeda in Rostock. BBC quoted prosecutors as saying "traces of subsea explosives were found in the samples taken from the boat". Denmark and Sweden closed their own investigations, according to BBC.

A second Ukrainian suspect, Volodymyr Zhuravlov, was released in October 2025 after a Polish court rejected his extradition, BBC reports. He was later arrested in Croatia, which has approved his extradition. He is fighting it and denies the charges.

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi were published before the trial opened. They do not describe the defence's arguments beyond the denial.

What is disputed

According to BBC, the indictment alleges the saboteurs were "acting by order of Ukrainian state agencies". President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly denied Ukrainian involvement. Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the US and UK; BBC reports both denied it. According to BBC, the Polish judge in Zhuravlov's case said the attack was not unlawful, calling a possible Ukrainian armed mission "justified, rational and just". BBC describes Italy's Supreme Court ruling as "very different".

What each side says

BBC quoted Zelensky as saying Ukraine had "nothing to do with" the blasts. Oleksandr Merezhko, who chairs the Ukrainian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, told the BBC the German account is "one of the versions". Henning Hoff of the German Council on Foreign Relations told DW the explosion "was in German interests". DW quoted CDU lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter as saying support for Ukraine should not change. According to DW, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel has called for compensation from Ukraine, without providing proof that Ukraine was behind the attack.

Analysis

The trial may test how far a criminal court can examine an act that some politicians see as part of a war. If proceedings shed light on the prosecutors' allegation of Ukrainian state orders, the political debate in Germany could sharpen. Some lawmakers urge continued support for Kyiv, while others call for compensation. Diverging rulings in Poland and Italy also show that European courts can view the same act differently. Successive German governments have left the case to the judiciary. Whether that approach holds may depend on the evidence presented and on how Kyiv responds.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.