The German Federal Prosecutorʼs Office has published the text of the charges brought against Ukrainian Serhiy Kuznetsov, who is suspected of undermining the “Nord Stream” pipeline on September 26, 2022.
He was charged with several articles:
- complicity in a war crime — an attack on civilian objects;
- organization of an explosion using explosives;
- destruction of structures;
- obstruction of the work of enterprises that provide public needs.
German prosecutors allege that Kuznetsov, together with other military personnel, developed a plan, on behalf of Ukrainian state bodies, to destroy the “Nord Stream 1” and “Nord Stream 2” gas pipelines, which run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to Lubmin in Germany.
“The goal was to permanently cut off gas supplies through these pipelines and prevent Russia from using revenues from natural gas trade to finance its war,” the text says.
According to prosecutors, a group was formed for this purpose, which included several professional divers, a skipper, and an explosives expert. The group was led by Serhiy Kuznetsov.
According to the investigation, on September 4, 2022, Kuznetsov entered Germany via Poland using a forged Ukrainian passport. Shortly thereafter, according to law enforcement, he and other members of the group boarded a sailing yacht. The yacht had previously been rented through intermediaries from a German company in “Rostock” using forged documents.
This yacht, according to the German prosecutorʼs office, transported a significant amount of powerful military explosives through international waters to an area near the Danish island of Bornholm.
"By September 22, 2022, a group led by Serhiy K. had attached several explosive devices with timers to gas pipelines lying on the seabed. The explosive devices detonated on September 26, 2022, causing serious damage to both pipelines," prosecutors added.
“Nord Stream” explosions
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.
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 participating in the sabotage, denies the charges.
In November, Kuznetsov was extradited from Italy to Germany. He was arrested the next day. Kuznetsovʼs lawyer Mykola Katerynchuk later told Babel that the Ukrainian was treated worse in a German prison than in an Italian one.
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.
At the same time, a Polish court refused to extradite another detainee in the case Volodymyr Zhuravlyov. The court ruled that Germany had provided insufficient evidence and that the act Zhuravlyov is accused of “was committed in the context of the criminal and genocidal war that Russia has been waging against Ukraine since 2014”.
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