Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has determined that Ukraine was responsible for the explosions on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022, Der Spiegel reports, citing a court ruling dated Dec. 10 that was published on Thursday. The ruling says “with a high degree of probability” that the explosions on the pipelines were carried out “on the instructions of a foreign state.” Further down in the document, it becomes clear that the “foreign state” alluded to is Ukraine.
In addition, the court ruled to keep the alleged coordinator of the sabotage operation, Serhii Kuznetsov, in custody, rejecting his appeal. In its decision, the court said the pipeline could not be considered a legitimate military target and that Kuznetsov could not have been identified as a combatant during the operation. The ruling by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice is advisory and will be relied upon by the lower court that will hear the case.
This past December, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, along with Colonel Roman Chervinskyi of the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine, confirmed that at the time of the explosion, Kuznetsov had indeed been serving in the Ukrainian special forces.
Kuznetsov was extradited from Italy to Germany this past November. He was detained over the summer in the Italian province of Rimini while on a family vacation. German prosecutors accuse him of aiding and abetting the explosions and of subversive activity against the constitutional order. He is slated to stand trial in Hamburg.
According to his defense attorney Nicola Canestrini, Kuznetsov went on a weeklong hunger strike in an Italian prison, demanding “proper nutrition, a healthy environment, decent conditions of detention, and equal treatment with other inmates in terms of family visits and access to information.” The Bologna Court of Appeal ruled on Oct. 27 that Kuznetsov should be extradited to Germany.
On Oct. 17, it became known that a court in Warsaw had refused to extradite Ukrainian national Volodymyr Zhuravlev to Germany. Zhuravlev is also suspected of involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had earlier said that it was “not in the interests of Poles to accuse or hand over” to Germany a suspect in the pipeline explosions.
According to German investigators, seven Ukrainian nationals were involved in the sabotage operation: four divers, an explosives specialist, the captain of the yacht Andromeda, and Serhii Kuznetsov, who commanded the operation.