Italy to extradite Ukrainian Nord Stream suspect to Germany, court rules

Kuznetsov's lawyer, Mykola Katerynchuk, confirmed the ruling. The extradition is expected to be carried out within the next ten days.

On Nov. 11, Kuznetsov has ended his hunger strike in an Italian prison where he is being held while his extradition appeal was still in progress. The BBC reported that it had reviewed a letter from Kuznetsov in which he claimed he was being treated as "Public Enemy No. 1" and was being held in a high-security facility alongside ISIS terror suspects. He also stated that Italian authorities had ignored his vegetarian diet requests for the past two months. In his letter, Kuznetsov complained about having to exercise in isolation while under the supervision of armed guards and about the "maximum restrictions" imposed on him.

Nord Stream explosions and arrests of Ukrainians

During the night of Sept. 26, 2022, three of the four strings of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were destroyed by explosions in international waters of the Baltic Sea. The pipelines were not operating at the time but were filled with technical gas.

Poland and Ukraine blamed Russia, while the Kremlin accused “Anglo-Saxons” and denied involvement.

In February 2024, Danish authorities closed their investigation due to insufficient grounds to pursue a criminal case; Sweden reached a similar conclusion.

On Aug. 27, 2025, Die Zeit, ARD and Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that German investigators had identified all suspects in the Nord Stream sabotage and issued arrest warrants for six Ukrainian nationals — four divers, an explosives specialist, a ship captain and the alleged leader of the sabotage group.

On Sept. 30, it emerged that Polish authorities had detained Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlyov, wanted by Germany over suspected involvement. Poland’s National Security Bureau chief Sławomir Cenckiewicz and Prime Minister Donald Tusk publicly opposed extradition, saying it was not in Poland’s national interest.

Kuznetsov, also suspected in the case, was detained in Italy during a family vacation under a European arrest warrant. He has since been held in a high-security prison in northern Italy.