The trial is anticipated to run into February and will take a look at Germany’s political stance on Ukraine.
Printed On 14 Oct 2026
A Ukrainian former army officer is standing trial in Germany, accused of organising the key operation that blew up the Nord Stream fuel pipelines in 2022 and minimize Western Europe off from its greatest supply of Russian pure fuel.
The trial opened on Wednesday on the Hamburg Larger Regional Court docket and is anticipated to run into February subsequent 12 months.
Beneficial Tales
listing of three objectsfinish of listing
It’s the first public listening to of the proof in a years-long investigation.
The defendant, a 50-year-old recognized beneath German privateness guidelines solely as Serhii Ok., is accused of main a bunch of Ukrainian brokers – together with divers and an explosives knowledgeable – in one of many greatest infrastructure sabotage operations of contemporary occasions.
He denies any involvement and is the one particular person on trial.
The prosecution
Serhii Ok. was arrested in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany that November.
Prosecutors accused him of working with different members of the army to plan the operation on behalf of unidentified Ukrainian state entities.
They allege he travelled to Germany by way of Poland on a solid Ukrainian passport about three weeks earlier than the assault.
They are saying the group used a sailboat employed within the northern metropolis of Rostock to achieve an space close to the Danish island of Bornholm, the place they hooked up military-grade explosives with timers to the pipelines on the seabed.
German prosecutors say attacking civilian targets and destroying infrastructure on this means would quantity to a conflict crime.
The blasts and the fallout
On September 26, 2022, Swedish seismologists detected a number of blasts, some 17 hours aside.
Three of the 4 concrete-coated metal pipelines ruptured, sending enormous plumes of methane into the environment.
Nord Stream 1 had equipped about half of Germany’s pure fuel imports. Its twin, Nord Stream 2, was constructed however by no means opened, after Berlin cancelled approval shortly earlier than Russia invaded Ukraine.
Moscow denied blowing up its personal pipelines and had already minimize provides in response to European sanctions.
Ukraine’s authorities denies involvement.
Russia stated on Monday it anticipated a “simply verdict” naming the perpetrators and those that ordered the operation.
One other suspect, Vladimir Z., a educated scuba diver who prosecutors say was one of many divers on the workforce, was arrested in Croatia in August.
Final month, a Croatian court docket authorised handing over the wished man to Germany.
The Nord Stream case has strained ties between Berlin and Kyiv, whilst Germany stays certainly one of Ukraine’s strongest backers, with Russia and Ukraine nonetheless buying and selling strikes.
