German Court Charges Former Ukrainian Officer with 2022 Nord Stream Sabotage

Former Ukrainian army officer accused of leading a team of divers in the Nord Stream pipeline explosions.

By Al Jazeera Staff and Reuters

Published On 2 Jul 20262 Jul 2026

A regional court in Hamburg has indicted a former Ukrainian army officer, identified as Serhii K under German privacy laws, for alleged participation in the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions. Prosecutors contend that he acted on instructions from Ukrainian state authorities.

The indictment accuses Serhii K of belonging to a group that attacked civilian infrastructure, causing explosions, destroying pipelines and disrupting public services. He has denied any involvement.

Kyiv officials said they lack sufficient information to comment on the German prosecutors’ allegations. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that his administration has not yet received the full indictment and will respond once more details are available.

Sabotage claims

The explosions occurred in September 2022, seven months after Russia’s full‑scale invasion of Ukraine, damaging both Nord Stream 1 and the unfinished Nord Stream 2 branch. At the time, Moscow had suspended gas deliveries through Nord Stream 1, citing Western sanctions and technical problems, while Europe accused Russia of weaponising energy supplies.

According to the German indictment, Serhii K was an Ukrainian army officer in 2022 who led a team comprising divers, a ship captain and an explosives expert. The group allegedly entered Germany on a forged Ukrainian passport, rented a boat with falsified documents, and transported military‑grade explosives via international waters to a site near the Danish island of Bornholm. There, they attached the charges to the pipelines on the Baltic Sea floor and set timed fuses.

Prosecutors say the operation aimed to permanently halt gas shipments through the pipelines, preventing Russia from financing its war effort with revenue from natural‑gas sales.

Serhii K was arrested in Italy in August and transferred to Germany in November. He faces a minimum three‑year prison term for directing an attack against civilian objects under German law.

German authorities assert jurisdiction because the damaged pipelines terminate in Lubmin, Mecklenburg‑Vorpommern, placing the incident within Germany’s energy‑security interests.

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