Italian police have arrested an Italian man suspected of coordinating the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
A Ukrainian citizen suspected of participating in the 2022 undersea sabotage damaging the Nord Stream gas pipeline between Russia and Germany has been arrested, German prosecutors announced on August 21.
The Nord Stream suspect, identified only as Serhii K - under German privacy regulations - was arrested on the night of August 20 in Rimini province, Italy.
German prosecutors added that suspect Serhii K is believed to have been one of the coordinators of the Nord Stream sabotage.
The suspect "is a member of the group that planted explosives at Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 near Bornholm in September 2022," the statement said.
Serhii K's group was accused of using a yacht to depart from the German Baltic Sea port of Rostock to the site of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 sabotage explosive device.
Traces of the military-grade octogen were discovered on the yacht.
The Nord Stream suspect who was recently arrested by Italy will be extradited to Germany and then brought to trial in a German federal court in the city of Karlsruhe.
German authorities said Serhii K faced charges of causing the blast, committing sabotage of the city and infrastructure.
The explosion on September 26, 2022 damaged a gas pipeline built to transport Russian gas to Germany across the Baltic Sea.
The explosion caused gas to leak from the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines to the Baltic Sea. The sabotage of two major gas pipelines has prompted a large-scale investigation into the perpetrator.
The cause of the Nord Stream sabotage has become a topic of speculation and increased political tensions in Europe after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out.
In 2023, German media reported that a group supporting Ukraine was involved in the Nord Stream sabotage. Ukraine has denied the accusations of ordering the pipeline attack and German officials have also cautiously spoken about the accusations.
The arrest of the Nord Stream suspect marks a breakthrough in a complex multi-year investigation involving many countries.
Sweden and Denmark have concluded their investigation into the Nord Stream case since the beginning of this year without identifying the suspect. Currently, only Duc is pursuing the investigation, focusing on the group of divers and supporters who are believed to have carried out the sabotage.
