After a meticulous investigation, German police have concluded that Serhii K, a former Ukrainian Special Forces soldier, commanded the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. The suspect was identified and arrested while on vacation at a glamping resort near Italy’s Adriatic coast in August 2025, where he appeared relaxed with his wife and children.
Serhii K is set to stand trial in Hamburg next week following his extradition. He faces charges of causing an explosion and committing a war crime by attacking civilian infrastructure, allegedly acting on behalf of “state agencies of Ukraine.” Both he and the Ukrainian government have denied any involvement. Due to German privacy laws, he will be referred to as Serhii K during the proceedings, though he was identified as Serhii Kuznetsov during extradition filings.
The explosions occurred in the early hours of September 26, 2022, when four high-performance explosive devices, weighing up to 27kg each, detonated approximately 80 meters beneath the Baltic Sea surface. The blasts ruptured three of the four Nord Stream pipelines, severing the flow of Russian gas to Germany and rendering the critical energy infrastructure inoperable.
Prosecutors allege that Serhii K led a crew of four deep-sea divers who used a rented yacht named Andromeda for the operation. While initial speculation from various governments and experts pointed toward Russia, German authorities focused on forensic evidence that ultimately traced the plot back to Ukraine.
Investigations suggest Serhii K entered Germany using a forged passport, likely issued by Ukrainian security services, also known as Serhii Kulinich in some records. He had traveled extensively across Europe and North America for nearly a year after the attacks without detection. However, upon crossing into Poland on August 13, 2025, he was flagged by German intelligence. The arrest warrant was formally issued on August 18, after he had moved south into Italy, prompting a coordination challenge between Berlin and its neighbors.
Upon checking into the Italian resort, Serhii K triggered an automatic alert from the carabinieri, leading to his arrest later that night. He now awaits trial in a high-security prison, where he has been held in isolation.
Another suspect, Volodymyr Zhuravlyov, a civilian deep-sea diver, is currently fighting extradition from Croatia. Zhuravlyov was previously arrested in Warsaw but was released after a Polish judge ruled that a Ukrainian attack on Nord Stream could be considered a “just” act in the context of the war. Zhuravlyov was in Croatia working as a consultant on a documentary about the blasts.
The case has generated significant political tension. In Ukraine, some view the destruction of the pipelines as a beneficial act that reduced European dependence on Russian energy, while others criticize the lack of official communication from Kyiv. President Zelensky has previously denied Ukrainian involvement, and Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi recently argued that the debate should focus on who built the pipelines rather than who destroyed them.
Within Germany, the far-right AfD party has used the trial to argue against continued military aid to Kyiv, creating an awkward diplomatic situation for the Berlin-Kyiv alliance. Serhii K’s legal team plans to argue that he cannot disclose operational details due to military secrecy obligations, supported by sworn statements from his superiors. Serhii K himself is expected to remain silent throughout the trial.
Arrested glamping with his family? Seems too easy. I hope the trial reveals whether he was truly acting alone or following orders from Kyiv.
I find it hard to believe Ukraine orchestrated this quietly. Could this evidence be fabricated to justify cutting aid? The timing feels suspicious.
This changes everything. If Germany confirms Ukrainian involvement, the entire alliance will fracture. Expect major political fallout in Berlin.