Charges filed against Ukrainian suspected of organizing Nord Stream attack

“German federal prosecutors have filed formal charges against a Ukrainian accused of helping to organize the 2022 attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines, which previously transported Russian natural gas to Germany, his lawyers confirmed on Wednesday.

 

The German chief prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe has not yet confirmed the contents of the indictment.

 

However, according to German media reports, federal prosecutors are accusing the suspect, who is identified only as Serhiy K. under German privacy laws, of war crimes, causing an explosion using explosives and destroying infrastructure.

 

Based on previous statements by prosecutors, investigators believe Serhiy K. coordinated the operation in the Baltic Sea.

 

The State Security Chamber of the Hamburg Hanseatic Higher Regional Court must now decide whether to accept the charges and when the trial could begin.

 

Explosions in the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022 severely damaged both Nord Stream gas pipelines, causing a complete disruption of gas supplies. Until the attack, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was supplying Russian natural gas to Germany, while Nord Stream 2 had not yet been put into operation.

 

Serhiy K. was arrested in August 2025 on the basis of a European arrest warrant while on holiday with his family on the Adriatic coast of Italy. He resisted extradition to Germany for several months and at one point went on a hunger strike, alleging that he had been mistreated.”