Under tight security, the defendant, identified as Serhii Kuznetsov, 50, listened to the indictment at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court through a Ukrainian translation. He did not speak.
German prosecutors say he commanded a seven-person group that planted explosives on three of the four Nord Stream 1 and 2 strings on September 26, 2022. The pipelines, which carried Russian gas to Germany, were destroyed at a depth of about 80 metres on the Baltic seabed.
They say he was serving in a Ukrainian special unit and working for Ukraine’s intelligence services at the time. Former Ukrainian intelligence officer Roman Chervinsky is named in the case file as the mastermind, and prosecutors say then-army chief Valeriy Zaluzhnyi approved the operation. Both men deny the allegations.
Defence lawyers argued that Serhii Kuznetsov was extradited from Italy without a proper legal basis. “The investigation has not provided any direct, credible evidence of my client’s participation”, lawyer Jens Meyer-Lohkamp said.
Meyer-Lohkamp also acknowledged that his client is “an officer of the Ukrainian armed forces”, and said the court must therefore consider whether, given Russia’s war of aggression, the pipelines “could still be operated at all” and whether attacks on them “could be justified”.
Prosecutors, whose 136-page indictment followed a four-year investigation led by Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office, say his arrest in Italy in August 2025 removed their remaining doubts. Italian authorities recorded a call he made from custody to his wife, in which he said it was the “right moment” to announce that the pipeline attack was an “official military operation”.
Serhii Kuznetsov, who was on holiday with his family when he was detained, says he had nothing to do with the attack and was in Ukraine at the time. He was handed over to Germany in late November 2025.
His lawyers also complained about his detention conditions, saying he has been held alone in a cell for almost a year with severely restricted contact. Ukrainian groups demonstrated outside the court.
The next hearing is set for October 27.
(jh)
Source: PAP