At 9:30 AM on 14 October 2026, Serhii K. is due before the Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht, or Hamburg Higher Regional Court, in a trial arising from the explosions that tore through three of the four Nord Stream pipeline sections four years ago. The case is numbered 3 St 2/26.
The blast came at 02:03 on 26 September 2022 near the island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. Massive quantities of methane rose to the surface as three sections of Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 were destroyed.
Nord Stream 1 had connected Russia with Germany and ended in Lubmin, supplying around half of Germany’s annual demand for natural gas. On 22 February 2022, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz stopped the approval process for Nord Stream 2, two days before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
Serhii K., identified in court documents as Serhii Kuznetsov, is a former Ukrainian Special Forces soldier. Federal prosecutors allege that he led professional divers, a skipper and an explosives expert who operated from the sailing yacht Andromeda, rented from Rostock.
According to the allegation, the group attached high-performance explosives weighing up to 27 kilograms each to the pipelines at depths of approximately 70 to 80 meters, using timers. Investigators found traces of subsea explosives in samples taken from the Andromeda.
Prosecutors say the operation sought to halt gas deliveries and deny Russia gas-trade revenue that could finance its war effort. The federal prosecutor accuses Serhii K. and co-perpetrators of committing a war crime ‘on behalf of state agencies’ by attacking a civilian object. His defence is expected to contend that the pipeline was a legitimate military target because of its alleged role in financing Russia’s war effort.
The investigation led German authorities to Serhii K. after he was detected crossing into Poland on 13 August 2025. An arrest warrant followed on 18 August 2025. Later that month, he was arrested late at night when he showed his passport at check-in at La Pescaccia glamping resort near Rimini in Italy.
He was extradited to Germany late in 2025 and held in isolation in a high-security prison. Prosecutors say he entered Germany for the alleged attack with a forged passport, likely issued by Ukraine’s security services. His real passport contains more than two dozen stamps from countries including France, Spain and Canada, all dated after the Nord Stream attacks.
The evidence set to be examined includes tourist photographs, speed-camera images of used cars, traces from the boat, Polish border travel data, internet searches and recordings of telephone calls Serhii K. made from prison in Italy. Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 have remained inoperable since the explosions.
Other alleged participants remain part of the wider case. Volodymyr Zhuravlov, also identified as Vladimir Z. in the case, was arrested in Croatia a few weeks before the trial. He challenged a German extradition request in a Polish court and was released in October 2025 after a judge said the pipeline attack was not unlawful.
Nicola Canestrini represents Serhii K. in Hamburg. Ukraine has denied official involvement. In August 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: ‘Ukraine has never officially taken part in any operation related to the blowing up of Nord Stream.’
The trial will place competing descriptions of the pipelines before the court: prosecutors describe an attack on civilian infrastructure, while the defence is expected to argue that the lines served a military purpose in wartime. What the court makes of that distinction will determine the case against Serhii K.
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