Nord Stream blast ordered by Ukraine, say German prosecutors

Deutsche Welle Thursday 02 July 2026, 09:31 UTC 1 min read

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Nord Stream blast ordered by Ukraine, say German prosecutors July 2, 2026Ukrainian state authorities were behind the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines linking Russia with Europe, German prosecutors said on Thursday. In a statement detailing the charges brought against suspect Serhii K. on Wednesday, prosecutors said that he and six accomplices had acted "on the orders of state authorities in Ukraine." They said the plan was to "destroy the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines" in September 2022 and described the accused as "military personnel." On Wednesday, German media had reported that K., a 50-year-old Ukrainian national, had been charged with being an accomplice to a war crime, disruption of public services, causing an explosion and destroying structures. The charges follow K.'s extradition to Germany from Italy, where he had been arrested on a German arrest warrant in August 2025. K. has denied involvement and his lawyer told the Reuters news agency that he was confident his client would be acquitted. More to follow ... Edited by: Karl Sexton

Nord Stream (ORG) Ukraine (LOCATION) German (ORG) Russia (LOCATION) Europe (LOCATION) Serhii K. (PERSON) the Nord Stream 1 (ORG) Nord Stream 2 (ORG) K. (PERSON) Ukrainian (ORG) Germany (LOCATION) Italy (LOCATION) Karl Sexton (PERSON)

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Nord Stream blast ordered by Ukraine, say German prosecutors

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