Who is Serhiy Kuznetsov?
Serhiy Kuznetsov was born in 1976 into a military family. The family traveled the world a lot before finally settling in Zhytomyr, where Serhiy went to first grade. In 1991, he entered the Kyiv Suvorov Military School. It was the last Soviet recruitment — there were only a few months left before independence.
In 1993, Kuznetsov entered the Institute for Personnel Training of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). At that time, it was a prestigious institution with a high level of teaching of law and foreign languages. Kuznetsov became the commander of the group, in which the future famous counterintelligence officer Roman Chervinsky studied with him.
In 1998, the graduates of the Institute went to serve in the regional departments of SBU. Kuznetsov returned to Zhytomyr, and from there he was transferred to the Kyiv headquarters of SBU, to the economic security department.
“At that time, the Security Service was just starting to deal with economic crimes, but not petty ones, but schemes that harmed national security. Specifically, our unit was engaged in the development of conversion centers in banking institutions. There were high-profile realisations, raids, wiretapping, detentions with huge cash, court sentences,” recalls an SBU employee who worked with Kuznetsov on condition of anonymity.
Kuznetsov worked for SBU for 5 years and then went to try his hand at business — at various times he was engaged in repairing power lines and transformers, and consulting in the field of green energy.
In 2004, during the Orange Revolution, he lived in a tent on Maidan. 10 years later, he stood there during the Revolution of Dignity. A friend of Kuznetsov, who worked in one of the special services, recalls that after the shootings on Instytutska and the call to attack Mezhyhirya, they took up arms and on the morning of February 22, 2014, they went out of town together to the estate. The assault failed, and that night Yanukovych fled.
In 2007, Kuznetsovʼs father fell ill. Expensive treatment abroad did not help. His death was a blow for Kuznetsov. At that time, he began to meticulously take care of his own health — he gave up meat and alcohol, and became a vegan. Kuznetsov and his family met the full-scale invasion at home, in Kyiv.
“On the morning of February 24 [2022], he brought us to his mother in Bucha — we hoped it would be quieter there. Instead, there was horror there because of the fighting in Hostomel,” recalls his wife Halyna.
The family spent one night together, and on the morning of February 25, they left in different directions: Halyna with her children to western Ukraine, Serhiy to Kyiv. His mother and her eldest grandson stayed in Bucha.
“There was no option not to let him go there. Even before the invasion, he said that if the offensive begins, he will go to fight, and it was not discussed,” recalls Halyna.
At the beginning of the invasion, Kuznetsov went to fight and was assigned to an air defense unit with the “Igla”.
Kuznetsov broke into Kyiv not the first time. At the checkpoint, his car was fired upon by the Russians, the wheels were hit. He had to turn back, repair it, and take a detour. In Kyiv, he joined the Territorial Defence Forces. As a reserve captain, he was assigned to the “Igla” air defense unit with MANPADS — he defended the Central Military Hospital in Pechersk, where the wounded were taken from all over the Kyiv region.
At the same time, in the spring of 2022, Kuznetsov met his former classmate Roman Chervinsky. After graduation, they did not lose touch. They saw each other at alumni meetings, and after the war began in 2014, they began to communicate more actively. With his entire group, Kuznetsov joined the 5th Special Operations Forces (SOF) Recruiting Center.
Kuznetsov’s warmate, who still serves in SOF, recalls their first meeting in early summer 2022 in Kyiv:
“I was taken to an office where there were several people. Among them were Roman Chervinsky and “Zorkyi” (Kuznetsov’s call sign). I’ll say that at first he surprised me.”
On the one hand, Kuznetsov had an ideal resume for SOF — his father was a military man, then Suvorov liceum, then SBU. On the other hand, he was unlike most members of the group — he was not distinguished by punctuality and discipline, asked many direct questions in the team, where it was customary to remain silent, and chronically could not stand the army bureaucracy.
“In short, he was a normal person and an atypical soldier, an ʼartist in warʼ”, recalls his friend and warmate.
In addition, Kuznetsov was ambidextrous, knew how to do a lot with his hands, always showed initiative, and made decisions quickly. Together with his group, he came up with unconventional solutions, including how to more effectively attack the Russians on the front lines. He also sought money for this "work".
In Chervinsky’s unit, several well-known people with various civilian experiences served alongside Kuznetsov. Among them were a former minister during Yanukovych’s time, a famous TV producer, a deputy from the “Servants” party, and Mykola Katerynchuk, a former politician and lawyer.
Chervinsky says that it was because of this star team that the authorities decided that this was a future political project and disbanded the unit in September-October. The explosions at “Nord Stream” occurred at the end of September of the same year.
“Without Chervinsky, we were like blind kittens. We were disoriented. For example, Serhiy always said that he was ready to serve only with Roman,” says one of the unit members.
He doesn’t say anything about the unit’s operations during Chervinsky’s time, it’s classified information. But he does mention one that was never implemented. When the team was just described the plan and told that they would have to work in a difficult region, Kuznetsov immediately said: “I’m in!”
After the unit was disbanded, members began to be transferred to different units — about once every six months. Eventually, Kuznetsov, who could have been demobilized as a father of three minor children, got fed up with it.
“Somewhere he didn’t see patriotism, somewhere he didn’t find motivation. He has a heightened sense of justice, honour, and unity. He didn’t find this in the army and decided to leave,” Chervinsky explains his decision.
Kuznetsov was demobilized in the fall of 2023. Around the same time, in November, the American The Washington Post and the German Der Spiegel, in a joint investigation, stated that a group led by Roman Chervinsky was behind the explosions at the gas pipelines.
At that time, Chervinsky had already been in custody for more than six months — he was accused of exceeding his official authority. In particular, because of a failed operation in July 2022, the Russians shelled the “Kanatove” airfield, three people died and 19 were injured.
While international media were reporting on Chervinskyʼs involvement in the “Streams” explosions, he was being tried in Ukraine for abuse of power. The trial is still ongoing.
Неллі Спіріна
Detention, Italian courts, German demands
On the night of August 21, 2025, people in uniform entered the tent where Serhiy Kuznetsov, his wife, and two children were sleeping. The tent was at a campsite in the small Italian town of San Clemente in the province of Rimini, where the Kuznetsovs had gone on vacation.
Serhiyʼs wife Halyna tells Babel that the people in uniform spoke mostly Italian — it was difficult to understand the gist. The entire family had their passports taken away for inspection. Serhiyʼs passport was not returned. They were told to follow him then. Half an hour later, Kuznetsov called and told them to pack his things — without any explanation, the police took them away.
That same night, during his first interrogation, Serhiy learned that the German prosecutorʼs office suspects him of blowing up two lines of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline and one of the Nord Stream 2 pipelines. The pipes were blown up on September 26, 2022, in the Baltic Sea in the economic zones of Denmark and Sweden.
Three countries began investigating the case at once. In February 2024, Sweden closed its proceedings, citing the fact that it was not its jurisdiction. In the same month, Denmark stated that sabotage had occurred on the pipelines, but law enforcement officials had no grounds to open a criminal case.
Gas bubbles on the sea surface after explosions at “Nord Stream”, September 28, 2022.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
The only country that continued the investigation was Germany. Its prosecutorʼs office entered the names of people it considered responsible for the bombing into the Schengen Information System (SIS). As soon as someone on the list crossed the Schengen border, the "flag" was supposed to be triggered, and the Germans would receive a signal.
In Italy, where Kuznetsov and his family came to rest, there was an additional mechanism — there is a system of automatic verification of hotel guests, Kuznetsovʼs lawyer Nicola Canestrini explains to Babel. Local hotels are obliged to transfer data on guests to the police, the information is checked in national databases that are linked to SIS.
Because of this, even those who traveled freely through other Schengen countries often end up in the hands of the police in Italy, and then the requesting country sends the Italians an arrest warrant.
The arrest warrant for Kuznetsov was issued by the German prosecutorʼs office back on August 18, 2025.
Germany charges Kuznetsov with three articles of the Criminal Code: sabotage directed against constitutional foundations; committing an explosion; and destroying construction structures, namely bridges, dams, railways, etc.
The yacht "Andromeda" on which, according to German investigators, a group led by Kuznetsov reached the gas pipelines and planted explosives at a depth of 70-80 meters.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
On August 22, 2025, Kuznetsov was brought to court to have his identity confirmed and the warrant checked. That day, photos and videos of Italian police leading Kuznetsov in handcuffs and him making a trident sign to journalists were released in the Italian media.
The extradition case was scheduled to be heard in September.
Kuznetsov on trial in Italy.
Kuznetsovʼs Ukrainian lawyer Mykola Katerynchuk, who served with him in the same unit in 2022, tells Babel that during interrogations, Italian law enforcement officers, citing letters from German colleagues, threatened to imprison Kuznetsov for 15 years if he did not plead guilty and make a deal with the investigation.
"Since I deny everything — at that time I was in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in a completely different place, [the Italians] asked Germany for additional evidence of my guilt," Kuznetsov says in a letter to his family, which is available to Babel.
The Italians put him in a special section of the prison for especially dangerous criminals. There, he was held with seven Islamic terrorists who fought in the Islamic State.
“The locals treat me with respect, they call me comandante,” he says in a letter.
In Kuznetsov prison, unlike the ISIS terrorists, they did not let him out for walks in the yard, they did not take him out in ordinary handcuffs, but in tight shackles, they limited communication with his family to 20 minutes a month and only by phone.
Later, the lawyer managed to make it 4-6 hours — both calls and visits. Halyna went to visit her husband in Italy 4 times. The children have not seen him or communicated with him since his detention.
The Ukrainian Embassy initially distanced itself from Kuznetsovʼs case. The only thing is that it first advised a lawyer, but, according to Katerynchuk, he turned out to be too expensive, so Kuznetsovʼs friends and relatives found another one who specializes in extraditions. The state got in touch for the second time when the media reported that Kuznetsov had started a hunger strike — the consul contacted the defense.
The extradition request has already gone through its first full circle in the Italian courts — initially Kuznetsov was allowed to be extradited, but the decision was later overturned.
On October 27, the court again allowed extradition. The defense appealed the decision, and the next hearing is scheduled for November 16. Until then, Kuznetsov will be in prison, where he has already lost 10 kg due to poor nutrition and starvation.
According to Mykola Katerynchuk, the Ukrainian embassy can get him out of there before the court decides — it can intervene and ask the court to release the Ukrainian citizen under house arrest under the responsibility of diplomats. Previously, the embassy kept aloof, but according to the latest information, it is ready to take Kuznetsov on bail.
In addition, last week, the Supreme Council Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets sent a letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and asked the minister to pay attention to the Kuznetsov case.
Lubinets believes that Italy is violating the prohibition of inhuman treatment and the right to a fair trial. Lubinets is so far the only official representative of the state who confirmed in a letter to the Bologna court that at the time of the explosions Kuznetsov was serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which means that he is “protected by the norms of international humanitarian law”,
Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets met with Kuznetsovʼs wife Halyna. His letter to the Italian Ministry of Justice was delivered by advisor Oleksandr Horodetsky. He also took part in a rally in support of Kuznetsov in Italy.
Омбудсман Лубінець Дмитро / Telegram
Russian “Streams” are a legitimate military target
“The Ukrainians definitely didn’t do it.”
In March 2023, President Zelensky commented on Western journalists’ accusations that Ukraine had undermined Russia’s “Nord Stream”. He added that such accusations play into the hands of the Russians.
Kuznetsov’s defense takes a different line — it doesn’t matter whether the Ukrainians blew up the “Streams”. During the war, this is a legitimate military target, so whatever the answer to this question, the Ukrainian attack on the Russian gas pipelines is not a crime, and the Germans mischaracterized Kuznetsov’s actions.
All 100% of the shares of “Nord Stream 2” and 51% of “Nord Stream 1” are owned by Russia’s Gazprom. Another 49% of the shares are owned by two German, Dutch and French companies (neither the Netherlands nor France are investigating the pipeline explosions). “Gazprom” itself is a half-state company, completely controlled by the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin’s nephew Mikhail has been a member of the board since 2018.
According to Russian and foreign media, since mid-2022, “Gazprom” management, together with the Russian government, began to create their own private military companies, which were later sent to war with Ukraine.
This is how the “Fakel”, “Potok” and “Plamya” units appeared. “Gazprom” fully financed and supplied them. It is known that almost 400 people from “Fakel” and “Potok” were transferred to Bakhmut, where they were supposed to help the PMC “Wagner”.
"This fact takes ʼGazpromʼ beyond the scope of purely commercial activities and makes it an accomplice in war crimes in Ukraine," the then Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko commented on this information in an interview with Politico.
After the failed coup of Prigozhin, all these formations were incorporated into the so-called Volunteer Corps. Now they are separate reconnaissance units that are still fighting in the Donetsk region. All three units have been under European Union sanctions since 2023.
Together, these facts, according to Kuznetsovʼs defense, make “Nord Stream” a legitimate military target for Ukraine. In addition, Katerynchuk reminds us, on the eve of a full-scale invasion, Putin used “Nord Stream” to blackmail and pressure the European Union.
It was an important tool in hybrid warfare.
From the first day of the construction of “Nord Stream”, the Kremlin lobbied the project, corrupted German politicians, took control of one of the main German parties, an entire province, and Gerhard Schröder. This was best described by German investigators in the book “Nord Stream: How Germany Financed Putin’s War”. You may find a link at the end of the text.
Getty Images / «Babel'»
Even if the Germans prove Kuznetsovʼs involvement in the explosions, he should be exempted from responsibility.
At the time of the explosions on the gas pipelines, he was a military serviceman, which means he was covered by functional immunity. It exempts military personnel from punishment if they act in the interests of the country and do not commit war crimes.
The Bologna court is ready to accept this argument, but on one condition — if Ukraine officially takes responsibility for the explosions. Kuznetsovʼs defense insists that this is not necessary. It is enough to prove that Kuznetsov was following the orders of his commander. Chervinsky says that was the case.
"Serhiy is a military man, he doesnʼt know who coordinated the orders he received — Chervinsky, Hanushchak, Zaluzhnyi or the President. He carried them out. And he has no right to answer the question of whether he participated in the operation. This is classified information," Chervinsky comments to Babel.
This logic was also followed by Polish judge Dariusz Lubowski when he considered a German arrest warrant for another Ukrainian Volodymyr Zhuravlyov. The Germans also suspect Zhuravlyov of involvement in the bombings and demanded that Poland extradite him.
“If Ukraine and its intelligence services organized an armed mission to destroy enemy pipelines, which the court does not claim, then these actions were not unlawful. On the contrary, they were justified, rational and fair,” Lubowski noted in his decision.
He added that if enemy intelligence services undermine critical infrastructure in peacetime, this is a crime, “however, the same actions of the armed forces, including special forces, during a just defensive war against the aggressor’s critical infrastructure are not sabotage, but a military operation that cannot be considered a crime”.
This is what the blown-up “Nord Stream 2” pipe looked like.
TV 2/Bornholm
The defense also asks the Italian court the following:
— to examine the decision by which Denmark closed the criminal proceedings regarding the sabotage of the streams, because it did not see this as a crime. The Italian court has so far refused to do so;
— not to extradite Kuznetsov to Germany for a “political article” — sabotage directed against constitutional foundations. When it comes to such articles, according to Katerynchuk, the court must find out whether the bombings were really intended to undermine the constitutional foundations of Germany, or whether the purpose was different.
Turning to politics, Katerynchuk explains that “Nord Stream” gave the Germans economic advantages in Europe, where they, together with the Russians, could set the rules for the energy market. After the explosions, Russia estimates its losses at €140-170 billion.
“Where will the Russians and the Germans then pay these bills? To the UN court. And who will they show them to? Of course, to Ukraine, and then Russia will have a very good argument in the bidding for $300 billion of its frozen assets,” says Katerynchuk, adding that there is still no unified position on this issue in Germany.