A former Ukrainian military officer has entered the courtroom as the first individual prosecuted for the 2022 blasts that shattered the Nord Stream gas pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea.
Issued on: 14/10/2026 – 15:58Modified: 14/10/2026 – 16:11
The trial commenced on Wednesday at Hamburg’s Higher Regional Court, where Serhii K., a former Ukrainian military officer, stands accused of directing the team responsible for the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea.
The 50‑year‑old, previously named in extradition papers as Serhii Kuznietsov, is the inaugural defendant in proceedings concerning the sabotage.
German prosecutors allege that he assembled a team comprising divers, an explosives specialist and a boat captain.
They claim he entered Germany in early September 2022 on a counterfeit Ukrainian passport, after which the group hired a yacht in Rostock and sailed toward the Nord Stream pipelines off the Danish island of Bornholm.
The allegations
The indictment states that military‑grade explosive charges equipped with timers were affixed to the pipelines on the seabed.
Multiple explosions were recorded on 26 September 2022, damaging three of the four Nord Stream conduits and releasing substantial methane plumes into the atmosphere.
Nord Stream 1 previously transported Russian gas straight to Germany, whereas Nord Stream 2 had been finished but never entered commercial service.
Serhii K. is charged with causing an explosion, destroying infrastructure, disrupting public services and being an accomplice to a war crime involving an attack on civilian infrastructure.
Prosecutors contend the operation was conducted on behalf of unnamed Ukrainian state entities, aiming to cut Russia’s gas‑sale revenue that helps fund its war in Ukraine.
Serhii K. denies any involvement in the sabotage.
A politically sensitive case
His lawyers have contested the jurisdiction of the German court and may contend that the pipelines constituted legitimate military objectives within Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s full‑scale invasion.
He is not expected to take the stand; his defence team has indicated that former Ukrainian special forces members are prohibited from publicly discussing their military operations.
Moscow has dismissed any suggestion of its involvement in the blasts and states it anticipates the trial will identify both the perpetrators and those who issued the orders.
Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office has likewise launched a criminal investigation, characterising the incident as an act of international terrorism, as reported by the Tass news agency.
What happens next
Serhii K. stands as the sole defendant in the Hamburg trial.
Croatian authorities have detained another suspect, Volodymyr Z., alleged to have been one of the divers participating in the operation. While Croatia has sanctioned his extradition to Germany, he is appealing the decision.
The hearings are set to continue through February 2027.
The trial will offer the first public scrutiny of the evidence amassed during Germany’s prolonged investigation into one of Europe’s most politically sensitive episodes of infrastructure sabotage.
(with newswires)