Ukrainian suspect of Nord Stream sabotage arrested in Italy

A Ukrainian man suspected of helping coordinate the 2022 sabotage of the Russian Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea was arrested Thursday in Italy, the German federal prosecutor’s office said.

"The German federal prosecutor's office ordered the arrest under a European arrest warrant of Ukrainian citizen Serhii K. by Italian police in the province of Rimini," a statement said.

"Serhii K. was part of a group of people who, in September 2022, placed explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines near the (Danish) island of Bornholm," according to a statement from the German federal prosecutor's office, which specializes in terrorism cases.

He is "probably one of the coordinators of the operation" of sabotage, the note added.

Gas pipeline attack

On September 26, 2022, four leaks were detected on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines off the Danish island of Bornholm, which connect Russia to Germany and have been at the center of geopolitical tensions since the start of the war in Ukraine.

Neither pipeline was operational when the leaks occurred. Moscow had already stopped supplying gas through Nord Stream 1 due to the dispute between Russia and European countries that support Ukraine. Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation.

According to German prosecutors, "for the transport, he and his accomplices used a sailing ship that had sailed from Rostock," a German port on the Baltic. "The sailboat was rented to a German company with false identity documents through intermediaries," the statement said.

"The explosives detonated on September 26, 2022. The explosions caused serious damage to the two gas pipelines," the prosecution recalled.

After being transferred by Italian authorities to Germany, the Ukrainian suspect will appear before a judge at the German Federal Court of Justice.