“HAMBURG -- A Ukrainian special-forces veteran went on trial for war crimes in Germany on Wednesday, accused of leading a covert state-sponsored operation to blow up Nord Stream pipelines, one of Europe's most important energy arteries.
The case puts Germany, Ukraine's biggest backer, in a bind: It is prosecuting an officer of a close ally for allegedly conducting a military operation against their common adversary, Russia, while fighting for his country's survival.
The defendant, identified under German privacy rules as Serhii K., was a captain in a Ukrainian special-forces unit at the time of the September 2022 explosions that destroyed three of the four Nord Stream gas pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea.
German prosecutors allege that Serhii K. commanded a seven-member sabotage team that used a rented leisure yacht, the Andromeda, to transport divers and military-grade explosives to the pipelines, some 250 feet beneath the sea.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the attack was carried out by an elite Ukrainian military unit.
The explosions crippled the world's largest offshore natural-gas pipeline system, a roughly $20 billion project that had bound Germany's energy supply to Russia for more than a decade. One of the four pipes survived the attack with only minor damage but has stayed out of service.
Germany's federal prosecutor, Stefan Schmidt, said at the start of the trial in a court in Hamburg that Ukrainian state agencies ordered and directed the operation to sever the gas link with Russia and deprive Moscow of revenue that could finance its actions in Ukraine.
Prosecutors charged Serhii K. with sabotage and destruction of critical infrastructure and also with a war crime: deliberately attacking civilian infrastructure in violation of the laws of armed conflict.
The defendant, who was arrested in Italy on a German warrant, declined to speak and his attorneys denied he participated in the bombings.
His lawyers also argued that his extradition from Italy was irregular under European law because the warrant was issued for sabotage and it was only after he was transferred to Germany that the prosecutor opted to pursue war-crimes charges.
They further argued that even if Ukrainian forces carried out the attack, there could be no basis for charging them with war crimes, since the pipelines could constitute a legitimate military target in Ukraine's self-defense against Russia because they generated revenue for Kremlin.
"Germany showed the world in Nuremberg what war crime is and who should be charged with it," defense attorney Nicola Canestrini said in reference to the post-World War II trials against Nazi leaders.
"Nord Stream was a weapon of Russia a financial, military and political weapon," Canestrini argued.
As a former officer, the defendant was bound by confidentiality by Ukrainian law and couldn't therefore discuss any aspects of his clandestine or other work during the time of his service, the attorney said.
The defense attorneys further contend that Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled energy giant and the majority owner of Nord Stream, was itself directly involved in the conflict. The company created and financed private military units staffed largely by its employees that fought in Ukraine, according to a 2023 European Union decision imposing sanctions on two of the units: Fakel and Potok.
German prosecutors have no forensic evidence such as DNA or fingerprints directly linking Serhii K. to the attack. But they say he belonged to a group of saboteurs, some of whom have been linked to the operation by such evidence.
The trial holds high political stakes for Germany and Ukraine. Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition is under growing pressure from the nationalist Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which has surged ahead in national opinion polls by campaigning against aid to Ukraine and advocating renewed economic ties with Moscow.
Ukrainian officials have long denied any involvement in the attack.
For Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the trial presents a different danger: the prospect of German proceedings establishing in public that Ukrainian state agencies ordered an attack on the infrastructure of the country's biggest European military backer.
In a December ruling on a pretrial appeal, Germany's Federal Court of Justice rejected the argument that civilian infrastructure becomes a legitimate military target simply because the revenue it generates helps finance a conflict. They also ruled that the destruction of Nord Stream infringed Germany's sovereign rights even though the explosions occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden.
The ruling has established significant legal hurdles for the defense.
The trial will test the limits of lawful fighting, the status of covert military operatives and the right of a country fighting for its survival to strike the economic interests of other country -- even when those interests are entwined with those of an ally.” [1]
Since Zelensky insist that his government is not involved in Nord Stream debacle, this sabotage becomes act of private citizens against Germany, EU and whole world, increasing price of gas significantly. The court must consider; how this private initiative could be lawful as the defense tries to claim.
In a preliminary ruling by Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH), the judges rejected the key pillars of the defense's strategy:
A. No Combatant Immunity for Covert Sabotage: The court ruled that foreign soldiers operating covertly while disguised as civilians forfeit "combatant privilege" and cannot claim immunity for clandestine sabotage that violates another nation's sovereign rights.
B. Economic Revenue Does Not Make Infrastructure a Target: The judges explicitly rejected the defense's premise, ruling that civilian infrastructure does not automatically become a legitimate military target simply because the revenue it generates helps finance a war.
C. Violation of German Sovereignty: Even though the blasts occurred in the exclusive economic zones of Denmark and Sweden, the court held that destroying the infrastructure directly infringed upon Germany's sovereign rights.
1. World News: Nord Stream Trial Tests Germany's Alliance With Kyiv. Pancevski, Bojan. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 15 Oct 2026: A6.
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