A Ukrainian man alleged to have been involved in the 2022 detonation of the Nord Stream pipelines carrying gas from Russia to Germanyhas been arrested in Italy, according to German authorities.
The man, identified only as Serhiy K, is believed to have been onboard the sailing boat from where the attack was allegedly carried out.
Carabinieri arrested him on Wednesday evening near Rimini after a European arrest warrant was issued on Monday, Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office (GBA) said on Thursday.
The attacks on the pipelines, which were not in use, were carried out on 26 September 2022 and damaged them apparently beyond repair.
Investigators have long suspected a Ukrainian commando operation.
Divers are believed to have been taken there by the chartered sailing yacht Andromeda, which set off from the German port of Rostock to the area close to the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm, where they planted explosives on the sea bed.
Serhiy K is thought to have been onboard. Investigators do not believe he was one of the divers, but he is thought to have had a leading role as a coordinator of what appeared to have been a well-planned operation.
The yacht was hired with the help of intermediaries and using forged identity papers, from a German company, according to prosecutors.
The incident has been under investigation since 2022 by the GBA, which said it intended to charge any suspects with anti-constitutional sabotage and causing an explosion.
During extensive media investigations, in particular by the news magazine Der Spiegel, people who allegedly had detailed knowledge of the incident said the commandos had not intended to commit a crime. Instead, they had considered it an attack on a legitimate military target due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, not least because the profits from gas deliveries to Germany had contributed significantly to financing Moscow’s war.
Spiegel’s research revealed evidence suggesting the action had been sanctioned by the Ukrainian armed forces, although this has been denied by Kyiv.
German prosecutors have not said when they expect Serhiy K to be extradited to face German authorities.
Separate investigations by Swedish and Danish authorities were closed in February 2024, leaving German authorities to continue their inquiries alone.
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At one point Russia accused the US of being behind the sabotage, following Washington’s criticism of Germany’s dependence on Russian gas. Another initial strong assumption was that the perpetrators were Russian – but investigators traced the yacht and discovered its connection to Ukraine.
Like Kyiv, Washington and Moscow denied the allegations.
Last year Germany’s federal prosecutor general, Jens Rommel, secured an initial arrest warrant against one of the suspected divers. However, the suspect left his home in Poland before he could be arrested after Polish authorities allegedly warned Ukrainian authorities in advance. The man is believed to have driven into Ukraine in a car with diplomatic licence plates, according to Spiegel.
Separately on Thursday, the Georgian captain of an oil tanker that damaged undersea cables in the Baltic Sea in 2024 after his vessel dragged along the sea bed for about 55 miles has denied wrongdoing, calling the incident a “maritime accident”.
Davit Vadatchkoria and the first and second officers of the Eagle S oil tanker are to face charges in a Helsinki court on Monday over the slicing of power and telecommunications cables as their vessel travelled westwards in the Gulf of Finland, having departed from a Russian oil port.
“We are innocent. It’s only a maritime accident,” Vadatchkoria, who is being detained in Finland, told the Finnish public broadcaster YLE on Thursday.
