German federal prosecutors have formally charged a former Ukrainian military officer as a co-perpetrator of a war crime in connection with the 2022 explosions that struck the Nord Stream natural gas pipelines. The charges allege he was acting on behalf of Ukrainian government entities.
Prosecutors announced Thursday that charges had been filed against the man, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, in a regional court in Hamburg. He faces accusations of participating in a war crime by attacking civilian infrastructure, causing an explosion, destroying critical infrastructure, and disrupting public services.
Officials in Kyiv said Thursday they lacked sufficient information about the case to respond in detail to the German prosecutors’ allegations.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy noted on Wednesday that he had not yet received the full details of the indictment, which had been formally served that same day. The complete list of charges was made public on Thursday.
“The relevant authorities of our countries will get in touch, and when we receive more details, we will probably be able to respond. For now, it is too early to speak,” Zelenskiy said.
According to prosecutors, the goal of the attack was to permanently cut off gas deliveries through the pipelines and deny Russia the natural gas revenue it was using to fund its military campaign.
Both Russia and Western nations have characterized the September 2022 blasts as deliberate sabotage. The explosions came after Russia had launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier that year. The blasts caused damage to the Nord Stream 1 pipeline — a key conduit for Russian gas flowing into Europe — and also struck the Nord Stream 2 branch, which had not yet begun operating.
At the time of the alleged attack, Russia had already suspended gas deliveries through Nord Stream 1, citing Western sanctions and technical problems. Europe, however, accused Moscow of using energy as a weapon.
The German indictment states that Serhii K. was a Ukrainian army officer in 2022 who, working with other military personnel and acting on behalf of Ukrainian state bodies, helped devise a plan to destroy both pipelines.
Prosecutors allege that Serhii K. led a team that included professional divers, a boat captain, and an explosives specialist. The group entered Germany using forged Ukrainian passports in September 2022 and boarded a yacht rented with falsified identification. They then transported large amounts of military-grade explosives through international waters to a site near the Danish island of Bornholm, where they attached the explosives to the pipelines on the Baltic Sea floor and set timed detonators.
Serhii K. was arrested in Italy in August and transferred to Germany in November. He has denied any involvement in the blasts. His German legal team was not immediately reachable for comment Thursday, but his Italian attorney said he welcomed the indictment.
“We do not fear the indictment — we demand that the facts be established, and in public,” said lawyer Nicola Canestrini in a written statement.
Under German law, a conviction for directing an attack on civilian objects carries a minimum sentence of three years in prison, or one year in less serious circumstances.
German courts have claimed jurisdiction in the case because the damaged pipelines terminate at Lubmin, located in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and their destruction was deemed a threat to Germany’s energy security and internal safety.
