https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/oct/14/ukrainian-soldier-to-go-on-trial-over-sabotage-of-nord-stream-gas-pipelinesUkrainian soldier led team of divers sent to blow up Nord Stream gas pipelines, court hearsA Ukrainian soldier led a team of divers that, acting on the order of state authorities, laid explosives on the bed of the Baltic Sea to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines, a court has heard.On the opening day of his trial in the German city of Hamburg, Serhii Kuznetsov, who was a special forces officer with the Ukrainian military at the time of the pipeline attacks in 2022, was accused by prosecutors of being an accomplice to war crimes by attacking civilian infrastructure, causing an explosion, damaging property and disrupting public services.He appeared in court on Wednesday dressed in a grey suit, white shirt and black tie and flanked by his lawyers. Kuznetsov saluted as he entered the courtroom. He and his legal team listened in silence for 10 minutes as the federal prosecutor general read out the indictment, which was simultaneously translated into Ukrainian.Kuznetsov, 50, is alleged to have prepared and carried out the detonation of at least four incendiary devices of up to 27kg in weight at a depth of about 80 metres in the Baltic Sea close to the Danish island of Bornholm.He is believed to have had six accomplices – four deep-sea divers, an explosives expert and a ship’s captain – who are alleged to have used a rented yacht and timer-controlled explosives.Kuznetsov and his country deny any involvement in the attacks.Kuznetsov’s lawyers argued that the trial should not be taking place at all, telling the court that the defendant, who they said had been held almost entirely in solitary confinement for 11 months, was being treated “like a pawn on a chessboard”.
>>1543223They stressed his inability to defend himself in the conventional manner due to his role as an army officer, which they said forbade him from speaking. It meant he was having to defend himself “with his hands tied”. They also disputed the accusation that the attack was sabotage of civilian infrastructure, saying the pipelines were “a weapon in the hand of the Russians”.The explosions took place on 26 September 2022, badly damaging the pipelines which had been constructed to carry Russian natural gas between Vyborg in western Russia and Lubmin, near Greifswald in northern Germany.The blasts caused the Nord Stream 1 pipelines – Russia’s main gas supply route to Germany before Moscow cut the supplies in August 2022 – to burst. They also damaged Nord Stream 2, which was ready to carry gas but was never put into operation after Germany suspended its authorisation process just before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.The attacks happened as European countries were seeking to transition away from Russian energy supplies in response to the Kremlin’s aggression. They exposed the dependence of Europe – and in particular Germany – on Russian gas as well as highlighting the murkiness of underground operations during wartime.Security observers initially blamed Moscow for the attack. Russia has denied involvement, in turn blaming the US, which has denied it just as forcefully.In July, German state prosecutors accused Ukrainian “state authorities” of ordering the attack, arguing: “The aim was to permanently halt gas supplies via the pipelines and prevent Russia from using the revenue from natural gas trade to finance its war effort.”The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has denied his country was involved.
>>1543224Kuznetsov was arrested in August 2025 on a family holiday in Italy, with Italian police reporting that he surrendered without resistance. He had been travelling on a false passport. He was extradited to Germany last November after legal efforts to prevent this failed.Another suspect, Volodymyr Zhuravlyov, an air conditioner installer and hobby diver, was arrested on a European warrant in northern Croatia in August. He is fighting his extradition to Germany, having applied for asylum in Croatia. He denies any role in the sabotage.Aware of how potentially incendiary the trial could be, with Ukraine in effect in the dock for a crime committed against its ally – and one of its staunchest wartime supporters – the German government has declined to comment on the proceedings.On Wednesday, a group of protesters gathered outside the court holding Ukrainian flags and placards. One of them, a Ukrainian man in exile in Germany, said: “It’s a scandal that a Ukrainian is being accused of a war crime here today, when Russia is constantly committing war crimes in Ukraine.”The far-right populist, pro-Kremlin Alternative für Deutschland party, which is soaring in the polls, has seized on the Nord Stream plot to boost its argument that German aid for Ukraine must cease and the pipeline be reinstated so that cheap supplies of gas can help counter the cost of living crisis.The pro-Ukraine protesters who turned out on Wednesday were just a few feet away from a group of supporters of the far-left BSW party, which echoes the AfD’s stance on Russia and would also like to see the pipelines reinstated. They were holding placards demanding a parliamentary inquiry to investigate any political motives behind the Nord Stream attack.
>>1543225Nord Stream was already a controversial subject before the attack. Vladimir Putin and the then German chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, managed to bypass Ukraine as a transit country with Nord Stream 1. After Schröder left the chancellery, Putin appointed him as chair of the supervisory board of the company Nord Stream AG. Schröder was seen last week attending Putin’s birthday celebration.A request by the Russians to participate as co-plaintiffs in the Hamburg trial was rejected by the court. The company Gazprom, which owns the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, had argued its right to do so due to what it referred to as the severe economic consequences resulting from the attack. The court argued that while repair costs of the pipelines would be high, it would not be economically impossible to restore them.According to reports, Kuznetsov, whose military ID indicates he was in active service at the time the pipelines were blown up, is expected to maintain his right to remain silent during the trial.His legal team is expected to produce affidavits from two of his military superiors to support the argument that he is prohibited from revealing details of his actions as a soldier.He is reported to have allegedly taken his orders from a man who is considered to be the mastermind behind the attack and is one of those who have sworn in his favour.The trial will resume on 27 October.Sixteen trial days have been scheduled at Hamburg’s Hanseatic higher regional court up to and including 17 December, with further hearings likely in January.
These goddamn Ukrainian are causing an energy catastrophe that threatens to destroy the global economy. President Trump NEEDS to bring this asshole Zelensky to heel. Shutting down starlink was a good start but we NEED more to happen. Cut off ALL AID IMMEDIATELY!
>>1543233>please, I don't want to die in Ukraine>please have putins bitch save me
>>1543237Europe is waking up. America is waking up. We won't continue funding your war of genocide and russophobic aggression
>>1543246>Wenice try Ivan
>>1543250And yet AFD is winning and a dominant party in Germany
>>1543255please get in that trench soon
