Ukrainian veteran Serhiy Kuznetsov, suspected of undermining “Nord Stream”, is being held in SHU in Germany under harsh conditions. He is forbidden to hand over books and letters and to communicate with his lawyers by phone.
Kuznetsovʼs lawyer Mykola Katerynchuk told Babel about this.
On December 22 Katerynchuk was able to get to Kuznetsov as a private individual. According to the lawyer, he submitted a request to German law enforcement officers to meet with his client — in which case the conversation was to be held confidentially.
But law enforcement officials refused, so Katerynchuk had to speak with him privately under supervision. He also said that Kuznetsov had written six statements asking to speak to lawyers by phone, but so far all his requests have been ignored.
Katerynchuk says that during the conversation, two officers and a simultaneous interpreter from Ukrainian were present, who translated the entire conversation between Kuznetsov and the visitors for the officers, and the officers also reviewed all the papers.
"He is not allowed to pass on correspondence. Kuznetsovʼs wife asked the officers to pass on letters and drawings from the children to him — they were accepted as an exception," says Katerynchuk.
Kuznetsov is given one hour to walk, the rest of the time he spends in his cell, he has a TV that broadcasts one German channel.
“He is exhausted, they are doing everything they can to break him emotionally,” says Katerynchuk.
The last thing Serhiy knew about Ukraine was the shelling on November 19, when a Russian missile hit a house in Ternopil. He also asked if Pokrovsk was still holding out, and was very happy that the Russians had been driven out of Kupyansk.
Katerynchuk also said that "Russia encouraged" the “Nord Stream” company, which built and operated the “Nord Stream” gas pipeline, to demand that the investigation recognize them as victims. They appealed to law enforcement agencies in Germany with a request to provide access to the investigation materials. Katerynchuk is sure that the Russians are doing this in order to later use it to hold Ukraine liable for property damage.
“Nord Stream” explosions and Serhiy Kuznetsov
On September 26, 2022, three 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 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.
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.
That same month, a Polish court refused to extradite another detainee in the case Volodymyr Zhuravlyov to Germany. The court ruled that Germany had provided insufficient evidence and that the alleged act “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.
On November 19, the Italian Supreme Court upheld the decision to extradite Serhiy Kuznetsov to Germany. In particular, the court found no evidence in favor of Kuznetsovʼs functional immunity as a Ukrainian military officer. One of the reasons was that no Ukrainian authority officially recognized the sabotage of “Nord Stream” as a military operation.
In November, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets wrote a letter to the Italian court, in which he 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.
On November 27, Kuznetsov was extradited from Italy to Germany. He was arrested the next day.
Later, lawyer Katerynchuk told Babel that in a German prison, the Ukrainian is treated worse than in an Italian one. Kuznetsov lost even more weight — the issue of the necessary diet has not been resolved, despite the fact that it is mentioned in the court decision and the prosecutorʼs letter. He is allowed to make phone calls only at the request of his lawyer. The German staff treats the Ukrainian very contemptuously. They put psychological pressure on him to admit guilt, but Kuznetsov will not do this.
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