A Ukrainian man identified as Serhii K has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of coordinating the 2022 attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines.
German prosecutors say he was part of a group that planted devices on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm. According to investigators, Serhii K played a coordinating role in the operation rather than being one of the divers who placed explosives on the pipelines.
The suspect was arrested overnight in the province of Rimini on Italy’s Adriatic coast, and he will be brought before a German judge after being extradited.
German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig praised the arrest as an “impressive success” for Germany’s state prosecutors, calling for the case to be fully resolved, including under criminal law.
The explosions in 2022 ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia’s main natural gas supply route to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022.
They also damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February of that year.
Russia has accused the United States of staging the explosions, a charge Washington denies.
The pipelines were long a target of criticism by the US and some of its allies, who warned that they posed a risk to Europe’s energy security by increasing dependence on Russian gas.
Beyond their geopolitical effect, the Nord Stream pipeline leaks were a huge environmental disaster, with local wildlife affected and huge volumes of methane discharged into the Baltic Sea, in what observers believe could be the single largest release of methane due to human activity.
A German investigation concluded in 2023 that a pro-Ukrainian group was behind the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage.
The team that carried out the attack reportedly consisted of two divers, two assistants, a captain, and a medic.
Investigators found traces of undersea explosives in samples taken from a yacht that was searched as part of the probe.
Serhii K faces charges of collusion to cause an explosion, anti-constitutional sabotage, and destruction of buildings.