Ukrainian Charged in Germany Over Nord Stream Blasts
German prosecutors have charged a Ukrainian man for the September 2022 explosions that damaged three of the four Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
The Berlin-based law firm Menaker, representing the Ukrainian man, confirmed on Wednesday that an indictment had been served. Federal prosecutors confirmed to AFP that a man has been charged in connection with the explosions.
According to German public broadcaster DW, citing local media, the suspect is accused of leading a team of seven accomplices in an operation to destroy three of the four Nord Stream pipelines. He is also charged with attacking civilian energy infrastructure, causing an explosion, and destroying infrastructure.
The attack released record-breaking amounts of methane into the Baltic Sea and left the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure inoperable. About a month after his arrest, a second Ukrainian suspect was detained near Warsaw, Poland, on a separate German arrest warrant.
Nord Stream 1's two pipelines had supplied gas along a 1,200-km (745-mile) route from Russia to northeastern Germany. Nord Stream 2, wholly owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom, never entered operation. Germany halted its approval process shortly before Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Months later, Russia shut down Nord Stream 1, citing equipment issues.
On 26 September 2022, several explosions ruptured three of the four pipelines in the Baltic Sea.
