Ukrainian officer on trial in Germany for Nord Stream pipeline sabotage
A Ukrainian military officer, Serhii K., has begun trial at Hamburg's Hanseatic Higher Regional Court, charged with participating in the September 2022 sabotage of Nord Stream pipelines. Prosecutors argue the attack was a state-sponsored operation to damage Russian energy revenue funding its war in Ukraine; he denies involvement. Germany is also seeking the extradition of a second suspect arrested in Croatia.
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The trial of Serhii K. has commenced at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg. He was arrested in Italy in August 2025 under a European arrest warrant and subsequently extradited to Germany. Prosecutors allege that Serhii K., who was serving as a Ukrainian special forces officer at the time, participated in a conspiracy by Ukrainian military personnel to destroy the Nord Stream pipeline infrastructure, which was valued at approximately 17 billion dollars. According to the indictment, this operation was designed to deprive Russia of gas revenue that was funding its war against Ukraine. The prosecution claims he was responsible for placing and detonating four devices, each weighing around 60 pounds, at a depth of 260 feet. He faces charges including accomplice to war crimes, attacking civilian infrastructure, causing an explosion, and disrupting public services. Serhii K. denies all allegations. The Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, a major energy project between Germany and Russia, suffered explosions in September 2022 near Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, which destroyed three of the four pipeline sections. German authorities are simultaneously seeking the extradition of a second suspect known as Vladimir Z., described as a trained diver, who was arrested in Croatia in August.
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