A Ukrainian man suspected of involvement in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipeline has arrived in Germany after having been extradited from Italy, prosecutors told AFP on Thursday, November 27th.
German investigators suspect Serhii Kuznietsov of being part of a cell accused of placing explosives on the underwater pipelines linking Russia with Europe in September 2022, following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.
“The accused was transferred from Italy today,” said a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors.
“He is scheduled to appear before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe tomorrow.”
Kuznietsov was arrested in the Italian province of Rimini in August on a European arrest warrant.
He and his accomplices are accused of having used forged identity documents to hire the yacht that left the German Baltic Sea port of Rostock to carry out the attacks.
After originally blocking his extradition on October 15th over an issue with the German arrest warrant, Italy’s supreme court, the Court of Cassation finally approved the transfer last week following a review.
Last month a Polish court refused a German extradition request for another Ukrainian suspect in the Nord Stream case.
