Trial begins in Hamburg over Nord Stream pipeline bombing
A trial has opened in Hamburg, Germany, of Ukrainian national Kuznetsov, a former special forces officer accused of sabotaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022. His defence says there is no clear evidence linking him to the attack.
A court in Hamburg, Germany, has begun hearing the case against Kuznetsov, a former Ukrainian special forces officer accused of blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in late September 2022. The pipelines were built to carry Russian gas to Germany, and the case is significant for European security and energy policy.
The charges
Prosecutor Stefan Schmidt told the court that Kuznetsov committed a war crime by using military means to attack civilian targets. He also faces charges of attacking civilian infrastructure and causing an explosion.
German prosecutors say he used forged identity documents to rent a yacht, which set out from the city of Rostock to carry out the sabotage. German investigators believe a Ukrainian state body ordered the attack, aiming to cut Russia's energy export revenues, which Moscow uses to fund its war. Public broadcaster ARD reported that seven suspects have been identified, one of whom has since died fighting against Russia.
The defence
Kuznetsov's lawyer, Nicolas Canestrini, said there is no clear evidence tying his client to the sabotage. He argued that Russia used the pipelines as a weapon of political and economic pressure, and that Russia, not his client, is guilty of war crimes. According to him, in September 2022 the pipelines were not supplying heat to anyone. The defendant will not testify; his lawyers say confidentiality rules prevent former Ukrainian special forces soldiers from speaking publicly about their activities.
Background
Nord Stream 1 had previously supplied Russian gas to Germany, but deliveries had already been halted by the time of the explosions because of Russia's renewed invasion of Ukraine. Nord Stream 2 had not yet entered service. Kuznetsov was detained in August 2025 while on holiday in Italy and later extradited to Germany. His alleged accomplice, Ukrainian citizen Volodymyr Zhuravlov, was detained in Croatia this August, where he was working on a Hollywood film about the Nord Stream attack.
Ukraine denies organising the sabotage but has not hidden its satisfaction, regarding any attack that weakens the Kremlin's ability to finance the war as legitimate. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his government knew nothing of plans to blow up the pipelines. A small group of Ukraine supporters held a demonstration outside the courthouse.
