A Ukrainian citizen suspected in Germany of involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in September 2022 has been detained in Italy, the German prosecutor’s office said on 21 August.
According to the agency, a Ukrainian citizen named Serhiy K. was detained in the province of Rimini by Italian carabinieri in cooperation with Interpol on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by the investigating judge of the federal court in Germany on 18 August 2025.
He is suspected of complicity in organising the bombing, sabotage and destruction of buildings.
According to the arrest warrant, the suspect was part of a group of people who planted explosive devices on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near Bornholm Island in the Baltic Sea in September 2022 and was probably one of the coordinators of the operation.
According to the German prosecutor’s office, the suspect and his alleged accomplices used a sailing yacht rented from a German company through intermediaries using forged documents.
The explosive device went off on 26 September 2022. As a result of the explosions, both gas pipelines were severely damaged – three out of four strings were destroyed.
Germany is awaiting the extradition of the suspect from Italy. No other details were given in the report.
At the end of September 2022, three of the four strings of the Nord Stream-1 and Nord Stream-2 pipelines, which were being built to supply Russian gas to Western Europe, were damaged. The trunk pipelines cannot be repaired. Investigations by Sweden, Denmark and Germany have shown that the pipelines were blown up, but those responsible are still being identified.
Russia is not taking part in the investigation. Moscow held the US and its allies responsible for the incident. They deny their involvement.
Numerous Western mass media reported that the explosions were organised by people linked to the Ukrainian security services. Kiev denies the accusations of organising sabotage.