Nord Stream Sabotage Trial Opens in Germany
A Ukrainian man goes on trial in Hamburg accused of helping to blow up the Nord Stream pipelines, which carried Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany, in 2022; prosecutors say the plot was carried out on behalf of Ukrainian state authorities, which Kyiv denies, and the defendant says he is innocent.
A Ukrainian man identified in court papers as Serhii K. goes on trial on Wednesday at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg, accused of helping to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022. The explosions off the Danish island of Bornholm destroyed three of the four lines built to carry Russian gas under the Baltic Sea to Germany, the BBC reported.
A prosecutors' summary says he and other military personnel planned the attack "on behalf of state authorities in Ukraine," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the BBC reported, and prosecutors classify it as a war crime against civilian property. Kyiv denies any state role. The defendant says he is innocent, and his Italian lawyer says there is "no smoking gun," RFE/RL reported.
Why it matters: Germany is among Ukraine's main military backers, and the case cuts across that alliance. The trial does not reopen the pipelines or change energy policy, and a verdict is months away.
The hopeful detail: four years on, the prosecution's case will be tested in open court for the first time, with the defendant presumed innocent. The court has scheduled hearings twice a week into at least February, RFE/RL reported.
Hamburg — Four years after explosions ripped through the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, a Ukrainian man identified in court papers as Serhii K. goes on trial Wednesday, 14 October, at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg on charges that he helped sabotage the undersea gas links from Russia to Germany.
German prosecutors say he is suspected of being an accomplice to a war crime. Their indictment summary states that at the end of February 2022 he and other military personnel, "on behalf of state authorities in Ukraine," planned to destroy the pipelines so that Russia could not use gas revenue to fund its war, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and the BBC reported from prosecutors' materials. Kyiv has denied any state role. Serhii K., identified in some reporting as Serhiy Kuznetsov, says he is innocent, and he is presumed innocent unless the court convicts him.
What was attacked
Nord Stream is a set of four undersea pipelines, built in two projects, Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, to carry Russian natural gas under the Baltic Sea straight to Germany, bypassing Ukraine and Poland. It is majority-owned by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom. On 26 September 2022, seven months into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, explosions destroyed three of the four lines off the Danish island of Bornholm, the BBC reported, leaving the pipelines unusable.
Western governments at first suspected Russia; President Vladimir Putin blamed the United States and Britain, which denied it. Swedish and Danish inquiries closed without charges. German investigators focused on a group of divers who, they say, rented a yacht named Andromeda in Rostock and left traces of subsea explosives on the boat, the BBC reported.
Why the case is explosive
Germany is among Ukraine's main military backers. Putting a Ukrainian defendant in the dock for wrecking energy infrastructure that served Germany, and alleging a link to Ukrainian state authorities, cuts across that alliance. Prosecutors have named seven Ukrainian suspects; only Serhii K. is on trial now. A second suspect, held in Croatia, also denies the charges; Croatia approved his extradition last month, but it is unclear when he will be sent, the BBC said. The federal court of justice ruled in January 2025 that Germany has jurisdiction because the attack undermined Germany's internal security, according to that reporting.
Prosecutors classify the attack as a war crime against civilian property, the BBC reported. The defense disputes the evidence. Kuznetsov's German lawyer, Jes Meyer-Lohkamp, said prosecutors "have not provided any direct, conclusive evidence of our client's involvement," and his Italian lawyer, Nicola Canestrini, said there was "no smoking gun," RFE/RL reported.
What it means in practice
The trial is the first time the prosecution's case about who planned and carried out the 2022 blasts will be tested in open court. It does not reopen the pipelines or change energy policy. It may feed Germany's argument over support for Ukraine: the main opposition party, Alternative for Germany, opposes that support, and an analyst told RFE/RL that evidence of Ukrainian involvement would strengthen its case.
What happens next
The Hamburg court has scheduled hearings twice a week into at least February, with no fixed end date, RFE/RL reported. It is not yet clear whether the suspect held in Croatia will join the case. A verdict is months away.