Italian police have arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating the 2022 attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines, Germany’s prosecutor general said on Thursday.
The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, was part of a group of people who planted devices on the pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in September 2022, a statement from the prosecutor’s office said.
Italian police sources close to the investigation told Sky News the suspect was on holiday with his family when he was arrested.
The sources also said that the arrest was made possible via a police check after the officers were alerted to the case by a European arrest warrant.
The suspect was found in San Clemente in the Rimini province on the Adriatic coast and is currently in jail pending a ruling on his extradition by the Appeal Court in Bologna.
He will be brought before a German judge after being transferred.
Serhii K and his accomplices had set off from Rostock on Germany’s north-eastern coast in a sailing yacht to carry out the attack, according to the prosecutors office.
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It added that the vessel had been rented from a German company with the help of forged identity documents via middlemen.
No group has claimed responsibility for the explosions in September 2022 that severely damaged three pipelines transporting gas from Russia to Europe.
It represented a significant escalation in the Ukraine conflict and worsening of the continent’s energy supply crisis.
Russia and the West have both said they see the damage to the pipelines as an act of sabotage.
Both the US and Ukraine previously denied any involvement as Moscow blamed the West.
Authorities acted on a European arrest warrant for the suspect, who faces charges of collusion to cause an explosion, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of buildings.
Germany’s justice minister Stefanie Hubig said the arrest was an “impressive success” for Germany’s state prosecutors.
She added: “The bombing of the pipelines must be investigated, including through criminal prosecution. Therefore, it is good that we are making progress in this regard.”
Italian police confirmed the arrest to Sky News.
Denmark and Sweden closed their Nord Stream pipeline investigations in February 2024, leaving Germany as the only
country continuing to pursue the case.
Danish authorities concluded there was “deliberate sabotage of the gas pipelines” but found “insufficient grounds
to pursue a criminal case”, while Sweden closed its investigation citing a lack of jurisdiction.
The leaks occurred in international waters but within the exclusive economic zone of Denmark and Sweden.
The damaged Nord Stream pipelines, which were built by Russia’s state-controlled energy company Gazprom, discharged huge amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the air for several days.
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