A former Ukrainian military officer has gone on trial in Germany, charged with organising the covert operation that destroyed the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022. The case opened on Wednesday at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court and is expected to continue until February next year.
It is the first public hearing of evidence in an investigation that has run for several years. The defendant, 50, is identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy rules. Prosecutors accuse him of leading a team of Ukrainian agents, including divers and an explosives expert, in what they describe as a major sabotage attack on infrastructure. He denies any role and is the only person facing trial.
Prosecutors’ account of the alleged sabotage plot
Serhii K. was arrested in Italy in August 2025 and sent to Germany the following November. Prosecutors allege he worked with other military personnel to plan the attack on behalf of unidentified Ukrainian state entities. They say he entered Germany through Poland on a forged Ukrainian passport about three weeks before the blasts.
According to prosecutors, the group hired a sailboat in the northern city of Rostock and travelled to waters near the Danish island of Bornholm. There, they allegedly attached military-grade explosives with timers to the pipelines on the seabed. German prosecutors argue that such attacks on civilian targets would amount to a war crime.
Damage to the Nord Stream pipelines
Swedish seismologists recorded several blasts on September 26, 2022, roughly 17 hours apart. Three of the four concrete-coated steel pipelines ruptured, releasing large clouds of methane into the atmosphere. Nord Stream 1 had supplied about half of Germany’s natural gas imports, while its twin, Nord Stream 2, was completed but never opened after Berlin withdrew approval shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Moscow has denied blowing up its own pipelines, pointing out that it had already cut supplies in response to European sanctions. Ukraine’s government also denies any involvement. On Monday, Russia said it expected a “just verdict” naming the perpetrators and those who ordered the operation.
Second suspect and strained Berlin-Kyiv ties
Another suspect, Vladimir Z., is described by prosecutors as a trained scuba diver who was one of the divers on the team. He was arrested in Croatia in August, and last month a Croatian court approved his transfer to Germany. The case has also strained relations between Berlin and Kyiv, even though Germany remains one of Ukraine’s strongest backers as Russia and Ukraine continue trading strikes.
