Germany Files Charges Against Ukrainian National in Nord Stream Sabotage Case

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Germany's Federal Prosecutor General has confirmed filing charges against a Ukrainian national suspected of involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.

According to prosecutors, he and his accomplices planned the attack on behalf of Ukrainian state authorities.

TASS has compiled the key facts known so far.

Charges filed by Germany's Federal Prosecutor General

- On June 30, Germany's Federal Prosecutor General filed charges with the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg against a Ukrainian national identified as Sergey K., who is suspected of involvement in the Nord Stream sabotage.

- Prosecutors support media reports that the sabotage team used a sailing yacht rented with forged documents to transport explosives to the pipelines.

- "There are sufficient grounds to suspect him of complicity in a war crime" involving an attack on civilian infrastructure, carrying out an explosion with explosive devices, damaging structures, and disrupting the operation of public utilities, the prosecutor's office said.

- Earlier, the ARD broadcaster reported, citing sources, that German federal prosecutors had filed charges against a Ukrainian national suspected of participating in the sabotage of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines.

- According to ARD, Federal Prosecutor General Jens Rommel accuses Sergey K. of attacking civilian energy infrastructure, an act that may be classified as a war crime.

- The broadcaster also reported that in telephone conversations with relatives and acquaintances intercepted by law enforcement, Sergey K. discussed the Nord Stream sabotage, thereby, according to prosecutors, providing incriminating material against himself.

- Additional evidence linking the suspect to the pipeline explosions was reportedly found on his mobile device.

Ukraine's involvement

- According to Germany's Federal Prosecutor General, the suspect planned the sabotage together with accomplices acting on behalf of Ukrainian state agencies.

- Prosecutors say Sergey K. served as an officer in the Ukrainian army in 2022.

- As previously reported by Der Spiegel, Germany's Federal Court of Justice believes there is a "high degree of probability" that the pipeline explosions were carried out "on behalf of a foreign state," namely Ukraine.

- Those conclusions are contained in a court ruling issued on December 10 last year.

- Ukraine should explain its role in the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 explosions and pay compensation to Germany, Alternative for Germany co-chair Alice Weidel previously told reporters.

- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier told France Televisions that the Nord Stream pipelines had been blown up by Ukrainian saboteurs with the apparent support of Western intelligence agencies.

Attack details

- On September 26, 2022, unprecedented damage was recorded on three pipeline lines of Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2, which had never entered commercial operation.

- Russia's Prosecutor General's Office opened a criminal case on charges of an act of international terrorism.

- According to the investigation, the saboteurs used the sailing yacht Andromeda, rented in Rostock, to carry out the operation.

- Divers then attached several explosive devices to the pipelines on the seabed.

- After the explosions, investigators found traces of the explosives RDX and HMX aboard the yacht.

- Information about the suspects and the forged documents they used came from multiple sources, including data provided by the Polish Border Guard.

- According to media reports, Sergey K. was an officer with Ukraine's domestic intelligence service.

- He is currently being held in pretrial detention in Hamburg, where his trial is expected to take place.

- He was detained in Italy last summer and subsequently extradited to Germany.