A Ukrainian man has gone on trial in Hamburg accused of blowing up Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipelines to Germany, four years after one of the most dramatic acts of sabotage in modern European history.
Prosecutors say Serhii Kuznetsov played a leading role in a team of saboteurs that destroyed the pipelines, accusing him of a war crime. His defence has called for the case to be dismissed.
The case is highly sensitive in Germany, seen as one of Ukraine’s closest allies since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, seven months before the attacks took place.
