German Court Opens Nord Stream Trial Amid Dispute Over Ukraine’s Role

A German court opened a trial Wednesday, Oct. 14, for Ukrainian national Serhii K. over the 2022 Nord Stream explosions, as prosecutors allege he helped plan the attack for Ukrainian state authorities.

The German Federal Public Prosecutor filed charges June 30, 2026. The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg opened the main proceedings Sept. 2 after a preliminary review found sufficient suspicion to bring the case to trial. The charges include a war crime involving attacks on civilian objects, causing an explosion, destroying structures and disrupting public services. The court’s preliminary decision allowed the case to proceed; it did not determine guilt.

Prosecutors allege K., then an officer in Ukraine’s army, and other military personnel developed the plan after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in late February 2022. They say it aimed to stop gas deliveries through both pipelines and prevent Russia from using gas revenue to finance its war. The alleged team included professional divers, a skipper and an explosives expert who planted timed devices near Bornholm. The devices detonated Sept. 26, 2022, damaging Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said July 9 that its investigation had not established facts showing Ukrainian state bodies or officials took part in the blasts or ordered them. The office said its investigation and evidence collection were continuing. The prosecution’s publicly described allegations center on K. and the alleged team; they do not identify a senior political figure as having approved the plan.

K. did not speak at the opening session. His lawyers asked the court to dismiss the charges, arguing that he remained an active-duty soldier and could not discuss security matters, including with his attorneys. Defense attorney Jes Meyer-Lohkamp said, “Anyone who cannot speak out cannot be convicted.”

The pipelines were built to carry Russian natural gas beneath the Baltic Sea to Germany. Nord Stream 1 was a major supply route, while Nord Stream 2 had not entered service.

The court has set 16 hearing dates from Oct. 14 through Dec. 17. Further sessions are planned for January and February 2027, but those dates had not been finalized.