Ukrainian man arrested in Italy over Nord Stream pipeline blasts

A Ukrainian citizen suspected to be one of the co-ordinators of the undersea explosions in 2022 that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany has been arrested, German prosecutors said Thursday.

The suspect — identified only as Serhii K., in line with German privacy rules — was arrested overnight by police officers in Misano Adriatico, near the Italian city of Rimini, federal prosecutors said.

Explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, damaged the pipelines, which were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The damage added to tensions over the war in Ukraine, as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources following the Kremlin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Investigators have been largely tightlipped on their investigation, but said two years ago they found traces of undersea explosives in samples taken from a yacht that was searched as part of the probe.

In a statement Thursday, prosecutors said Serhii K. was one of a group of people who placed explosives on the pipelines and is believed to have been one of the co-ordinators. He is suspected of causing explosions, anti-constitutional sabotage and the destruction of structures, they said.

He was arrested on a European arrest warrant issued on Monday.

The suspect and others used a yacht that set off from the German port of Rostock, which had been hired from a German company using forged IDs and with the help of intermediaries, prosecutors said.

They didn't give any information on the other people aboard the yacht or say anything about who else might have been involved in co-ordinating the suspected sabotage, or about a possible motive.

German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig praised what she called "a very impressive investigative success." She said in a statement that the explosions must be cleared up, "so it is good that we are making progress."

The explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia's main natural gas supply route to Germany until Moscow cut off supplies at the end of August 2022.

They also damaged the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never entered service because Germany suspended its certification process shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in February of that year.

Russia has accused the U.S. of staging the explosions, a charge Washington has denied. The pipelines were long a target of criticism by the U.S. and some of its allies, who warned that they posed a risk to Europe's energy security by increasing dependence on Russian gas.

In 2023, German media reported that a pro-Ukraine group was involved in the sabotage. Ukraine rejected suggestions it might have ordered the attack and German officials voiced caution over the accusation.

German prosecutors didn't say when they expect Serhii K. to be handed over to German authorities.

Swedish and Danish authorities closed their investigations in February 2024, leaving the German prosecutors' case as the sole probe.