German prosecutors on Wednesday charged a former Ukrainian army officer with being part of a military operation in 2022 that sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines shipping natural gas from Russia to Western Europe.
The suspect, identified under German privacy laws as Serhii K., is accused of leading a team of accomplices who destroyed three of the four Nord Stream pipelines on Sept. 26, 2022. The explosives were planted near Bornholm, a Danish island in the Baltic Sea.
“He and his accomplices used a sailing yacht, which departed from Rostock, to transport the devices. The yacht had previously been rented from a German company through intermediaries using forged identification documents,” authorities said following his arrest last year in Italy. “The explosions severely damaged both pipelines.”
He is accused of attacking civil energy infrastructure, which is considered a war crime under international law, German media reported.
The Nord Stream pipelines provided Russia with billions of dollars in revenue before President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. German prosecutors said the sabotage mission was intended to permanently disrupt gas deliveries and prevent Moscow from using the profits to fund its military operations.
During a press conference in Dublin on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said his government hasn’t received all of the details of the German criminal case against Serhii K.
“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,” Mr. Zelenskyy said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
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