The Ombudsmanʼs advisor was allowed to inspect the place of detention in Italy of Ukrainian Kuznetsov

The Court of Appeal of Bologna (Italy) has allowed the advisor to the Ukrainian Parliamentʼs Commissioner for Human Rights to enter the prison where Ukrainian Serhiy Kuznetsov, suspected of involvement in the “Nord Stream” sabotage, is being held.

The day before, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote a letter to the Bologna Court of Appeal, in which he requested official permission to allow his representative to enter Kuznetsovʼs place of detention to "check his health and conditions of detention".

The letter ended up in Babelʼs possession. On November 12, it was signed by an Italian prosecutor, thus allowing a representative of the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine to visit Serhiy Kuznetsov in prison in the Italian city of Ferrara.

The document states that the authority is valid until November 15, 2025.

Also, in a letter to the Italian court, Lubinets admitted for the first time on behalf of the state that at the time of the explosions at “Nord Stream”, Kuznetsov was serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

And therefore, he is covered by the protection provided by international humanitarian law — in particular, the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Serhiy Kuznetsov went on a hunger strike on October 31 in a maximum-security prison in Italy, demanding respect for his fundamental rights, while he awaits a final decision on his extradition to Germany.

A Ukrainian wrote a letter from an Italian prison, saying he was being treated as “criminal number one”, held with suspected members of the so-called ISIS, and “cynically ignored” his eating habits.

On November 11, Kuznetsov ended his hunger strike.

“Nord Stream” explosions

On September 26, 2022, 3 explosions occurred on the “Nord Stream 1” and “Nord Stream 2” pipelines, which run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, causing massive gas leaks. Only one of the four strands of the gas pipeline remained intact.

The US, UK and EU governments have declared a deliberate sabotage. Russia believes that the US and its allies are interested in the bombings. Western and Russian media have written about different versions — from sabotage by the Russians themselves to the involvement of Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky has denied Ukraineʼs involvement in the sabotage.

On August 26, 2025, German investigators issued arrest warrants for six Ukrainians suspected of involvement in the bombing. Ukrainian Serhiy Kuznetsov, who was detained in Italy and suspected of involvement in the sabotage, denies the charges. An Italian court allowed his extradition to Germany.

On October 27, a court in Bologna ordered the extradition of Serhiy Kuznetsov to Germany. The defense appealed to the Italian Supreme Court.

In October 2025, a Polish court refused to extradite another detainee in the case, Volodymyr Zhuravlev, to Germany. The court ruled that Germany had provided insufficient evidence and that the act he is accused of “was committed in the context of the criminal and genocidal war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine since 2014”. The Polish prosecutor’s office decided not to appeal the decision.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.