Italian police have arrested a Ukrainian national suspected of involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions, an attack that crippled Europe’s energy infrastructure.
The suspect, identified by German prosecutors only as Serhii K in line with privacy laws, was detained following a European arrest warrant. He is accused of belonging to a group that allegedly planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm on September 26, 2022.
According to German prosecutors, the group transported explosives on a rented yacht that departed from Rostock, Germany. The vessel was obtained through intermediaries using falsified identity documents.
The Nord Stream pipelines, majority-owned by Russia’s Gazprom and co-financed by major European energy companies, were designed to deliver Russian gas directly to Germany, bypassing Ukraine and Poland. The sabotage rendered the pipelines inoperable just seven months after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
At the time, Western governments accused Russia of carrying out the blasts, while Moscow denied responsibility, blaming the United States, Britain, and Ukraine instead. Since then, various reports have suggested Ukrainian operatives may have acted independently, without direct state involvement.
In August 2024, German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for another Ukrainian national, Volodymyr Z, believed to be one of the masterminds.
Meanwhile, Denmark and Sweden, whose waters were affected, closed their investigations in 2024. Danish authorities confirmed the blasts were “deliberate sabotage”, but did not name suspects.
The arrest comes amid warnings of increasing sabotage operations across Europe. A new report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies found that Russia has nearly quadrupled attacks on critical infrastructure since 2023.
