Ukrainian on trial in Germany over 'war crime' bombing of Nord Stream pipeline

The trial has begun of a Ukrainian man accused of leading an elaborate plot to blow up an undersea pipeline carrying Russian gas to Germany.

Considered one of the biggest acts of sabotage since the Second World War, the Nord Stream line was allegedly targeted by a team that used a yacht to lay undersea bombs.

The explosions in the Baltic Sea on 26 September 2022 are said to have been led by Serhii Kuznietsov, whose legal team claim is still an active member of the Ukrainian military.

Prosecutors say the plot was designed to permanently cut off Russian gas supplies and stop the revenues being used to fund the Ukraine War.

The defendant has denied the charges, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy previously insisted the plot was not orchestrated by the Ukrainian military.

International observers initially blamed Russia, but the Kremlin said it wouldn't damage its own infrastructure and suggested US and UK intelligence agencies were involved.

Swedish seismologists detected twin explosions 17 hours apart on the day of the alleged sabotage, with large plumes of methane gas released as three of the four lines were damaged.

The Nord Stream II pipeline was also damaged. However, it never actually entered service as Germany suspended its certification just before the war started.

Prosecutors claim Kuznietsov and others set sail from the German port of Rostock in a boat rented using forged IDs and laid four timed bombs near the Danish island of Bornholm.

The boat is said to have left Rostock ​on 6 September and returned on 23 September. German media reported that five men and one woman were on board.

Military-grade explosives were allegedly used to blow up the concrete-coated steel pipelines, which lie about 230ft to 263ft - ⁠80 to 110m - under the sea.

Kuznietsov, 50, was arrested in a bungalow in an Italian village last year, where he had been staying with his family.

He's accused of charges including causing an explosion, damaging property and being an "accomplice to war crimes" by attacking civilian infrastructure.

The Ukrainian is the only person on trial, but one of the suspected divers is fighting extradition after being detained in Croatia in August.

Kuznietsov's lawyers told the court the charges should be dismissed.

They said he was still an active duty solider and Ukrainian law banned him from speaking about his service for national security reasons.

Jes Meyer-Lohkamp, representing the defendant, told the court: "He is not permitted to speak. His two immediate superiors told him that he does not have authorisation to make any statements - not even to his lawyers."

He added that under German law: "Anyone who cannot speak out cannot be convicted."

Protesters outside the Hamburg court for the first day of the trial held banners with slogans including "Russia is the only war criminal that belongs in the dock" and "Russia is a Terrorist".

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Moscow had severed supplies a month before the alleged attack, due to German support for war-related EU sanctions. However, the country previously received half its gas imports through the 750-mile line.

The trial is expected to last until February and is politically awkward due to Germany's continued strong support for Ukraine.

Berlin has stressed the outcome is still undecided and is in the hands of an independent judiciary.

(c) Sky News 2026: Ukrainian on trial in Germany over 'war crime' bombing of Nord Stream pipeline