On day one, prosecutor Stefan Schmidt told the court that Ukrainian authorities selected Serhii K. to run the operation, adding, "He had the mandate and authorization from the Ukraine government." The indictment describes him as a Ukrainian Army officer who, after Russia's February 2022 invasion, worked with other service members tied to Ukrainian government agencies to plan the destruction of Nord Stream 1 and 2. The objective, according to prosecutors, was to shut those routes for good and stop Russia from using gas trade proceeds to support its war.
The pipelines moved natural gas from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Lubmin, a coastal city in northeastern Germany. Before the Kremlin launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine, Nord Stream 1 was the primary channel for Russian pipeline shipments to Germany, while Nord Stream 2 had been built but never entered service.
Prosecutors allege that Serhii K. led a small crew made up of professional divers, a skipper, and an explosives specialist. In early September 2022, they boarded a sailing yacht rented in Rostock with forged IDs, then used the vessel to ferry military-grade explosives to waters close to Denmark's Bornholm island.
In the weeks before the blast, the group allegedly fixed several timed explosive devices to the pipelines. Those charges went off on September 26, 2022. Authorities say he was taken into custody in Italy a year ago and subsequently extradited to Germany.
Infrastructure sabotage cases reshape energy security policy. Market Briefs covers that fallout free every morning.
Lawyers for Serhii K. reject the charges. Defense counsel Nicola Canestrini argued Germany cannot try him for a war crime because Italy's extradition decision allowed only sabotage counts. He told the court that no one was injured or killed and said German authorities have wrongly identified the culprits. In a broader appeal he said, "After Bucha, Mariupol, and the abducted Ukrainian children, he's the first person the German authorities are trying as a war criminal - not a Russian, but an officer in the armed forces defending against a war of aggression."
Canestrini added that Russia treated the pipeline as a tool of military, financial and political pressure, so labeling it a purely civilian asset is mistaken. He said there is no direct proof, such as fingerprints or DNA, placing his client on the yacht, and argued that indirect evidence was sent from Italy to Germany without the required judicial approval. The defense also moved to end the case, saying his superiors in Ukraine have barred him from discussing service details and that doing so would violate Ukrainian law, leaving him unable to mount a full defense.
Finger pointing over who blew up the undersea links has swirled since 2022, with Russia accusing the US, Ukraine and Poland and calling them "beneficiaries" of the blasts. In 2021, Nord Stream 1 supplied more than one third of Russia's gas exports to Europe. That is why this trial matters beyond the courtroom: energy flows, wartime rules, and cross border investigations are colliding in one case. If you budget for heating, travel, or anything tied to energy prices, the outcome here feeds into the same story that shows up later in your monthly bills.
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