Indictment against alleged leader of gas pipeline attack claims former Ukrainian army officer was directed by state
German prosecutors have accused Ukrainian “state authorities” of ordering the 2022 explosives attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia with Europe, a charge likely to ignite tensions between Kyiv and Berlin, its biggest military backer.
The sabotage in the Baltic Sea by a team of assailants almost entirely destroyed the seafloor infrastructure of the key source of Russian gas to Germany.
A suspect who was arrested last August in Italy and extradited to Germany in November was indicted this week. He was named at the time of his capture as Serhiy Kuznietsov.
The federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement it had charged him with war crimes “for an attack on a civilian site” as well as causing an explosion and disrupting public services.
Crucially, the office said Kuznietsov, then an officer in the Ukrainian army, had, together with other members of the military, devised the plan to destroy Nord Stream pipelines 1 and 2 “on the orders of state authorities in Ukraine” after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline was a vital route for Russian gas exports to Europe, while Nord Stream 2 was yet to enter service.
“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 prosecutors said.
At the time of the attack, Moscow had recently choked off deliveries via Nord Stream 1, citing western sanctions and technical issues, though European countries accused it of weaponising gas supplies. Germany, the EU’s top economy, was forced to scramble in the ensuing months to meet its energy needs.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Wednesday he was yet to receive full details of the indictment, which had been served that day, Reuters reported. The list of charges was published on Thursday.
