Italian police have arrested a Ukrainian suspect as coordinator of attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines, Germany’s federal prosecutor’s office announced. The arrested individual, named Serhiy K, will be brought before German justice after his extradition to Germany. Considered an act of sabotage by both Russia and the West, no one has ever claimed responsibility for the explosions that caused severe damage to natural gas pipelines from Russia to Europe in September 2022, marking a significant escalation in the Ukraine conflict and worsening the continent’s energy supply crisis.
Nord Stream: Who is the suspect arrested for pipeline sabotage
The suspect was a member of a team that planted devices on the pipelines near the German island of Bornholm in September 2022, the prosecutor’s statement said.
He and his accomplices had departed from Rostock, on Germany’s northeastern coast, using a sailboat to carry out the attack, the prosecutor’s office reported, adding that the vessel had been rented from a German company with the help of forged identity documents through intermediaries.
Authorities acted on a European arrest warrant for the suspect, who faces charges of conspiracy to cause an explosion, sabotage and destruction of infrastructure.
Italian police arrested him during the night in Rimini, on the Adriatic coast, according to a statement from the German prosecutor’s office.
Italian police made no immediate comment.
