Gambiaj.com – (BERLIN, Germany) – German prosecutors say they have identified a retired Ukrainian naval officer as the ringleader behind the 2022 explosions that destroyed the Nord Stream gas pipelines, an attack that reshaped Europe’s energy landscape and sparked a global guessing game over who was responsible.
The suspect, identified only as “Serhii K”, was arrested last month at a holiday resort in Italy and is now facing extradition to Germany. Officials allege he led a six-person Ukrainian team that carried out the underwater bombing of Nord Stream 1 and 2 in September 2022.
The blasts released an estimated 350,000 tons of methane into the Baltic Sea and ended any prospect of Germany resuming gas imports from Russia.
German investigators, who have kept their inquiry largely under wraps for nearly three years, say the operation—nicknamed “Operation Diameter”—was both audacious and meticulously planned. Using false passports, the team allegedly posed as tourists, renting a yacht called the Andromeda from Rostock, Germany.
On several trips into the Baltic, four trained divers in the group are said to have planted explosives on the seabed near Denmark’s Bornholm Island.
Residues of explosives, DNA traces, and fingerprints were later found aboard the yacht, alongside corroborating evidence from a taxi driver, speed cameras, and mobile phone data. German prosecutors have since issued arrest warrants for all six suspects, though the remaining five are believed to be back in Ukraine, which does not extradite its citizens.
The case carries uncomfortable political implications. Germany is now one of Ukraine’s largest military and financial backers in its war against Russia.
Both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the country’s former military chief, General Valeriy Zaluzhny—now Kyiv’s ambassador to London—have denied sanctioning or knowing about the plot.
However, leaked intelligence reports suggest Zelensky was warned of the plan by the CIA months before the attack but failed to stop it.
At the time of the explosions, many in the West blamed Moscow, suspecting that President Vladimir Putin wanted to intimidate Europe by demonstrating the vulnerability of its energy supplies.
Russia, in turn, accused the United States. The new revelations that point to a Ukrainian operation, however, risk shifting the narrative.
Legal experts warn the upcoming trial could be “stage-managed” to emphasize that the sabotage was a rogue operation, not state policy. Analysts also say it is unlikely to undermine Western support for Ukraine, but it could make future Russian sabotage harder to dismiss as implausible.
For Kyiv, the Nord Stream attack may have served both strategic and financial purposes. Destroying the pipelines forced Russia to continue using Ukraine’s own transit system to supply Europe, generating vital fees for the Ukrainian government.
German prosecutors say Serhii K will face charges of jointly causing an explosion, sabotage, and destruction of critical infrastructure. If convicted, he could face a lengthy prison sentence in Germany. Yet in Ukraine, some observers predict he may ultimately be celebrated as a national hero.
