A Ukrainian suspect accused of involvement in the sabotage of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline has been brought to trial, three years and 10 months after the incident occurred.

According to the daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) and broadcaster ARD on Wednesday (July 1), the German Federal Prosecutor's Office has indicted Serhii Kuznetsov, a 50-year-old Ukrainian national, at the Hamburg Higher Regional Court. He faces charges of causing an explosion, destruction of critical industrial infrastructure, and attacking civilian energy infrastructure, which constitutes a war crime under international law.

Nord Stream is a natural gas pipeline approximately 1,230 kilometers long that connects Russia to Lubmin in northern Germany.

In September 2022, three of the four Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were destroyed on the seabed near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea.

Kuznetsov was arrested while vacationing in Italy in August of last year and was extradited to Germany three months later.

German prosecutors had previously identified seven Ukrainian operatives, including Kuznetsov, and issued European arrest warrants for them.

One of these individuals is reported to have been killed in action on the Ukrainian front.

Investigative authorities believe that Kuznetsov, who served as an officer in the Security Service of Ukraine until about 11 years ago, played a leading role in the Nord Stream sabotage operation.

German media reported that prosecutors are using intercepted phone calls Kuznetsov made to relatives and acquaintances while he was detained in an Italian prison as additional evidence to support the charges.

Kuznetsov has claimed immunity under international law, arguing that the pipeline was a legitimate military target during the war because Russia used it to export gas and generate funds for the conflict.

The German Federal Court of Justice rejected Kuznetsov's appeal in January.

At the time, the court ruled that immunity does not apply to those who participate in operations under the direction of intelligence agencies rather than as combatants, effectively acknowledging that the Ukrainian intelligence authorities had orchestrated the operation.

Another suspect, a former diver named Volodymyr Zhuravlev, was arrested in Poland last September but was subsequently released.

Unlike the Italian court, the Polish court accepted the argument that the Nord Stream pipeline was a legitimate military target and rejected the German prosecutor's extradition request.

Western media previously reported that Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and current ambassador to the United Kingdom, had directed the operation.

The German weekly Die Zeit predicted that if the trial confirms that Zaluzhnyi approved the operation, it could intensify debates regarding the scale of support for Ukraine.

Russia has consistently demanded that the suspects be apprehended quickly and that the investigation results be made public, labeling the incident an act of terrorism against its energy infrastructure.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)