German prosecutors accuse Kyiv of ordering 2022 Nord Stream sabotage

German prosecutors accuse Kyiv of ordering the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, a claim that could raise tensions between Ukraine and Germany. The federal prosecutor’s office said an indicted suspect, Serhiy Kuznietsov, was arrested in Italy last August and extradited to Germany in November, and is charged with war crimes for an attack on a civilian site as well as causing an explosion and disrupting public services. Prosecutors allege that Kuznietsov, then an officer in the Ukrainian army, helped devise a plan to destroy Nord Stream 1 and 2 “on the orders of state authorities in Ukraine” after Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Nord Stream 1 was described as a key route for Russian gas exports to Europe, while Nord Stream 2 had not entered service. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he had not yet received full details of the indictment, served on Wednesday, and Germany’s government did not immediately comment. The case describes divers, a skipper and an explosives expert operating under Kuznietsov’s leadership.