German prosecutors have accused Ukrainian state authorities of ordering the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia and Europe, alleging that a former Ukrainian army officer led the operation on Kyiv’s behalf. 

The federal prosecutor’s office this week filed charges at a regional court in Hamburg against the suspect, identified in media reports as Serhiy Kuznetsov. 

Prosecutors accused Kuznetsov, who was arrested in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany in November, of war crimes for directing an attack on civilian infrastructure, as well as causing an explosion, destroying critical infrastructure, and disrupting public services.

According to the indictment, Kuznetsov, then an officer in the Ukrainian military, devised the plan to destroy the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines alongside other military personnel after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

He reportedly entered Germany from Poland on Sept. 4, 2022, using a forged Ukrainian passport before joining other members of the group aboard a sailing yacht chartered in Rostock using fake identification documents.

The indictment alleges the team, which included professional divers, a skipper and an explosives expert, transported military-grade explosives to waters near the Danish island of Bornholm. The divers allegedly attached timed explosive devices to the pipelines on the seabed before they detonated on Sept. 26, 2022.

The explosions severely damaged the pipelines and released massive amounts of methane into the atmosphere. Before the attack, Nord Stream 1 had supplied roughly half of Germany’s annual natural gas demand.

Prosecutors allege the operation was carried out “on the orders of state authorities in Ukraine” with the aim of permanently halting Russian gas exports through the pipelines and preventing Moscow from using natural gas revenues to finance its war effort.

The suspect has denied any involvement in the attack.

Ukrainian authorities said they did not have enough information to respond in detail to the allegations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday that he had not yet received the full details of the indictment.

“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,” Zelenskyy said.