German prosecutors arrest second suspect in Nord Stream sabotage

German federal prosecutors have charged a Ukrainian national with orchestrating the covert operation that destroyed the Nord Stream pipelines in September 2022, marking the most significant legal escalation yet in one of Europe’s most consequential acts of sabotage since World War II. The suspect, identified as Serhii K. (also known as Serhiy Kuznietsov), is a former Ukrainian army officer who prosecutors allege coordinated the underwater demolition of pipelines that once carried Russian natural gas directly into the heart of European industry. He was charged on or around July 1, 2026, and has been held in pre-trial detention in Hamburg since his extradition from Italy in November 2025. What prosecutors say happened The explosions on September 26, 2022, destroyed both strands of Nord Stream 1 and one strand of Nord Stream 2, the twin pipeline systems running beneath the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. German prosecutors allege that Serhii K. was not acting alone or freelancing. According to the charges, he operated under directives from Ukrainian state authorities. The explosives used were identified as military-grade RDX/HMX, a combination that points to serious operational sop...