Did Ukraine attack Germany's interests? The trial for Nord Stream begins

BarcelonaSerhiy Kuznetsov faces a historic trial starting today. He is the Ukrainian accused of leading the military group that, under orders from Kyiv, in September 2022 sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines, located in the Baltic Sea and through which, until a few weeks before the attack, Europe was supplied with Russian gas. The trial begins this Wednesday in Hamburg (Germany), where the Public Prosecutor's Office accuses the Ukrainian soldier of committing a war crime for having attacked civil infrastructure with prohibited combat methods against civilian targets.

The former soldier was arrested in August 2025 during a vacation in Italy and, according to the German Public Prosecutor's Office, led a group of seven people. With this team, and using false documents, the soldiers rented a sailboat on the German Baltic coast with which they placed explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines and caused "serious damage," the indictment recalls.

The text also emphasizes a far from minor issue: it asserts that Kuznetsov was a member of an elite Ukrainian unit intended to carry out sabotage operations. The direct link to the attack is especially relevant because, if proven during the trial, it would mean confirming that Ukraine attacked German interests, the main economic and military ally of Kyiv in the war against Russia. Berlin received 50% of all of Germany's gas needs through these pipelines.

According to the indictment, leaked to various German media outlets, while he was detained in Italy, Kuznetsov himself asked in a telephone conversation with his wife that the Ukrainian authorities make it public that it was an "official operation." Ukraine admits, through security sources in the country cited by media such as the Wall Street Journal, that the operation had the approval of the then head of the armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, but not that of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The alleged perpetrators of the attack raised suspicions during their journey by sailboat across the Baltic Sea. At the port of Kolobrzeg, in Poland, coast guards inspected the vessel, which was flying a German flag, because the appearance of the crew, who did not seem to be tourists, set off alarms. During their journey, the members of the group traveled with fake passports. Kuznetsov carried a Ukrainian passport, but appeared in it under a different name, and the Prosecutor's Office points out that it would have been provided to him by Ukraine's secret services.

Despite Ukraine's direct involvement in the attack, so far the government of conservative Friedrich Merz has avoided commenting publicly on the allegations and on the impact they may have on relations with Kyiv. Berlin has asked to wait for the procedure to conclude, which will last at least until February. Meanwhile, the Kremlin, aware of the potential geopolitical consequences of the attack on the relationship between Germany and Ukraine, called this Monday for a "just verdict" that reveals the names of the perpetrators of the sabotage and also "those who ordered it."

Doubts about jurisdiction

The attack on the energy infrastructure took place in international waters. However, Germany took over the investigation because the pipeline ends in its territory and because the sabotage put its interests and the country's energy security at risk. In Poland, the attack was also partially investigated, but the justice system ended up releasing a second suspect, Vladimir Zhuravlov, who was later arrested again in Croatia and is currently waiting to be extradited to Germany.

At the time of the attack, the infrastructure was no longer sending gas from Russia to Europe. Once the full-scale war against Ukraine began, Moscow had drastically reduced gas shipments during the months prior to the attack. Furthermore, Nord Stream 2 never became operational. It was completed in 2021, but Germany suspended its certification as part of the sanctions against Russia when Moscow recognized the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as Russian territory.

In the case of Nord Stream 1, Russia had interrupted the supply, alleging a technical leak during repair work, and the flow of gas was never resumed. Nevertheless, in order to ensure the maintenance of the conduits, gas under pressure was still circulating through the infrastructure, and the attack caused the largest methane leak that has ever occurred anywhere in the world.