Nord Stream Trial Opens in Germany With Ukraine in Focus

The Nord Stream trial opens Wednesday in Hamburg, and it could be one of the most politically explosive courtroom fights in Europe this year, according to RFE/RL. After four years of leaks and anonymous briefings, the world will finally hear evidence under oath about who blew up the gas pipelines.

Who is on trial

German prosecutors have identified seven Ukrainian suspects, but only one sits in the dock. He is named in court papers as Serhii K., and has been identified elsewhere as Serhiy Kuznetsov, a former military officer. He is accused of being an accomplice to a war crime, and he says he is innocent.

The case will be heard at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg. RFE/RL reports that the court has scheduled two hearings every week until at least February, with no end date set yet. That means this story will keep running for months, not days.

What prosecutors say happened

The blasts happened in September 2022 and left the pipelines inoperable. Western governments first pointed at Russia, but German investigators later built a case that a group of Ukrainian divers rented a yacht and planted explosives on the seabed. Prosecutors say Kuznetsov was the ringleader.

A summary of the indictment released by the German federal prosecutor says the plan was developed at the end of February 2022 "on behalf of state authorities in Ukraine." The stated aim was to permanently halt gas deliveries and stop Russia from using the revenue to fund its war. That wording is what has caused outrage, because it ties the sabotage to the Ukrainian state itself.

Kyiv has always strictly denied any involvement. Nord Stream is majority-owned by Russia's state-controlled Gazprom, and it was built to ship Russian gas straight to Germany while skipping Ukraine and Poland.

The defense pushes back

Kuznetsov's lawyers are not letting the war crime label slide. His Italian lawyer, Nicola Canestrini, told RFE/RL there is "no smoking gun" and said it is hard to believe a German court would hold a war crimes trial against a Ukrainian serviceman. His German lawyer, Jes Meyer-Lohkamp, said prosecutors have not provided any direct, conclusive evidence of his involvement.

The defense also wants the court to decide whether the pipelines were a legitimate military target at all. Three German outlets, ARD, Sueddeutsche Zeitung and Die Zeit, say they saw the full indictment. They report that investigators secretly listened as Kuznetsov, while in custody in Italy, phoned his wife and said he had been advised to describe the plot as an official military operation.

Another suspect, identified by Germany as Vladimir Z., is held in Croatia and fighting extradition. He was earlier detained in Poland, but was freed when a Polish judge ruled that if Ukraine was behind the attack, it was a just act.

Why it matters beyond the courtroom

The biggest open question is how high the plot went. Stefan Meister of the German Council on Foreign Relations told RFE/RL that the crucial issue is how much came from the top of the Ukrainian political system and how much was prepared by insiders. He said there is still no proof that President Zelenskyy or his administration were really involved.

The trial also lands in the middle of a heated German debate over backing Ukraine. The far-right Alternative for Germany, which recently won key regional elections, opposes that support, and Meister said evidence of Ukrainian involvement would strengthen its arguments. Chancellor Friedrich Merz has doubled down on his policy and visited Kyiv on October fourth with a new aid package.

Not everyone expects a shift. Mikhaylo Honchar of the Strategy XXI Global Studies Center told RFE/RL that Germany will likely avoid steps that undermine the relationship with Kyiv, and that many Ukrainians would see a guilty verdict differently, saying that if their guys did it, they are heroes. Meanwhile, the war itself rolls on. See our war coverage for the latest from the front.

For anyone who grew up with the Nord Stream mystery as an internet rabbit hole, this is the moment the speculation meets a courtroom. Expect leaks, dueling narratives and plenty of spin from every side, so watch what is proven in court rather than what is claimed online.