German court arrests Nord Stream blast suspect

A German court has issued a formal arrest warrant for a Ukrainian national allegedly involved in blowing up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022.

The 49-year old, identified by media as former Ukrainian military officer Sergey Kuznetsov, supposedly led a small group of Ukrainian saboteurs. According to the German authorities, the group rented a yacht and planted explosives on the pipelines using commercial diving gear. The explosion severed three of the four pipelines that carried Russian natural gas to Germany.

Moscow has dismissed this version of events as “ridiculous,” suggesting involvement of NATO countries due to the complexity of the sabotage operation.

A statement published by the Office of the Federal Public Prosecutor General on Friday said that the “investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice executed the arrest warrant today [November 28] against Ukrainian national Serhii K.”

The man was apprehended in Italy in August and extradited to Germany on Thursday.

Another suspect in the case, identified as Vladimir Z., was detained in Poland in late September pursuant to a European Arrest Warrant.

However, in October, the Warsaw District Court struck down a German extradition request, ordering the suspect’s immediate release. The local media quoted Judge Dariusz Lubowski as arguing that Germany lacked jurisdiction, as the explosions occurred in international waters.

He went on to describe the blasts as “justified, rational and just.”

“Blowing up critical infrastructure during a war – during a just, defensive war – is not sabotage but denotes a military action,” the Polish judge concluded.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk also justified the sabotage, posting on X that “the problem with North Stream 2 is not that it was blown up. The problem is that it was built.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded that Tusk’s statement reveals Poland’s willingness to condone terrorism as long as it hurts Russia.