Ukrainian ex-officer goes on trial in Germany over Nord Stream blasts

The trial is expected to run into February and could test Germany’s political stance on Ukraine.Published On 14 Oct 202614 Oct 2026A Ukrainian former military officer is standing trial in Germany, accused of organising the secret operation that blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022 and cut Western Europe off from its biggest source of Russian natural gas.The trial opened on Wednesday at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court and is expected to run into February next year.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3German prosecutors charge Ukrainian suspect over Nord Stream explosionslist 2 of 3Why the world should care about the far right’s rise in Germanylist 3 of 3Ukrainian suspect, a ‘trained scuba diver’, arrested over Nord Stream blastend of listIt is the first public hearing of the evidence in a years-long investigation.The defendant, a 50-year-old identified under German privacy rules only as Serhii K., is accused of leading a group of Ukrainian agents – including divers and an explosives expert – in one of the biggest infrastructure sabotage operations of modern times.He denies any involvement and is the only person on trial.The prosecutionSerhii K. was arrested in It...