German prosecutors say the Nord Stream saboteurs acted on orders from Ukrainian state authorities

German prosecutors said the Nord Stream saboteurs acted on orders from Ukrainian state authorities. This is stated in the agency’s press release devoted to the first charges being brought against Ukrainian citizen Serhii K.

“He and other servicemen, acting on orders from Ukrainian state authorities, developed a plan to destroy the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines. The goal of the operation was to permanently cut off gas supplies through the pipelines and prevent Russia from using revenue from natural gas trade to finance military operations,” the publication says.

Serhii K. has been charged under three articles of the German criminal code (carrying out an explosion, destruction of structures, and disruption of socially significant public services), as well as under an article of the code of crimes against international law (an attack on a civilian infrastructure facility, which is considered a war crime).

“On September 4, 2022, Serhii K. entered Germany through Poland using a forged Ukrainian passport. He then, together with other members of the group, boarded a sailing yacht suitable for navigation on the open sea. The yacht had been chartered in advance from a German company in Rostock through intermediaries using forged identity documents. The accused and his accomplices transported large quantities of highly effective military-grade explosives through international waters to a location near the Danish island of Bornholm, where the pipelines run along the seabed. By September 22, 2022, the group under Serhii K.’s leadership had placed various explosive devices with timers on the pipelines. The explosive devices went off on September 26, 2022, causing serious damage to both pipelines. Before the incident, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline transported roughly half of Germany’s annual natural gas demand for energy production,” German prosecutors describe the details of the crime.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denied Kyiv’s involvement in the sabotage of the pipelines.

“I believe it is very dangerous that some independent media, which I have always treated with great respect, are taking such steps. This is wrong. Ukraine definitely did not do this. And that is the main thing. And whoever came up with what, as they said, there are some indications, or maybe even under some flag, it looks ridiculous, honestly,” he said in March 2023, commenting on a publication in The New York Times in which the outlet, citing U.S. intelligence, wrote that a “pro-Ukrainian group” was behind the explosions.