Germany charges Nord Stream sabotage suspect
Danish Defence Command/Handout via REUTERS
Germany’s federal prosecutors have formally charged Ukrainian
national Serhiy
Kuznetsov with leading a seven-person group that allegedly blew up sections
of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022, several German media
outlets reported on July 1.
According to Tagesschau, ARD, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Die Zeit, the indictment accuses Kuznetsov of directing the operation. It says he worked for Ukraine’s SBU security service until 2015 and was serving in the Ukrainian military at the time of the explosions.
Prosecutors allege that Kuznetsov and six others set out in late summer 2022 on a rented yacht, the Andromeda, with four professional divers, an explosives expert, and a skipper. At a depth of roughly 80 meters in the Baltic Sea, divers are alleged to have attached several explosive devices made from a mixture of hexogen and octogen. The devices detonated on Sept. 26, destroying three pipeline sections, the indictment says.
The reports cited security service sources saying Kuznetsov
apparently discussed the attacks “with relatives and acquaintances” while in
custody after his arrest in Italy. Tagesschau noted the German government had
not commented on the indictment. A trial date at the Higher Regional Court of
Hansa, the appeals court for Hamburg and Bremen, has not been set.
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