German federal prosecutors took a major step Thursday, filing formal charges against a former Ukrainian army officer accused of carrying out the underwater blasts that severely damaged the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines between Russia and Germany nearly four years ago.
Due to local privacy regulations, the suspect has been identified only as Serhii K. He faces a serious list of charges, including deliberately causing an explosion, destruction of property, disruption of public services, and serving as an “accomplice to war crimes” by targeting civilian infrastructure, according to a statement from prosecutors.
The underwater explosions occurred on September 26, 2022, destroying sections of the pipelines that were constructed to transport Russian natural gas beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany.
The blasts intensified already-high tensions surrounding Russia’s war against Ukraine, coming at a time when European nations were working to reduce their reliance on Russian energy following the Kremlin’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to prosecutors, the goal of the attack was to permanently cut off the flow of gas through the pipelines and block Russia from using natural gas revenues to fund its military campaign.
Serhii K. was taken into custody last August after authorities raided a bungalow in an Italian village where he had been staying with his family. Police reported he gave himself up without a struggle. He was subsequently extradited to Germany in November.
Investigators say Serhii K. and others allegedly departed from the German port city of Rostock aboard a yacht that had been rented from a German company using falsified identification documents and with assistance from intermediaries.
The explosions tore through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which had served as Russia’s primary route for delivering natural gas to Germany until Moscow halted those deliveries in August 2022. The blasts also caused damage to Nord Stream 2, a pipeline that never became operational after Germany put its certification on hold shortly before Russia launched its invasion.
Russia has repeatedly blamed the United States for orchestrating the explosions, an accusation that Washington has firmly rejected. Both pipelines had long drawn criticism from the U.S. and several of its allies, who argued they made Europe dangerously dependent on Russian energy supplies.
