A German indictment obtained by DR states that the 2022 Nord Stream explosions near Bornholm were a Ukrainian state military operation, ordered and directed by Ukrainian state organizations.
Germany’s federal prosecutors set out that conclusion in a non-public indictment dated June 25, 2026. DR reports that it has obtained the 108-page document, which says there is sufficient basis to assume the sabotage was carried out on orders from Ukrainian state bodies.
The indictment is directed against Serhii Kuznietsov, a former officer in Ukraine’s armed forces. He has been held in pre-trial detention in Germany since November 2025 and is expected to stand trial in Hamburg later this year. According to DR, he is accused of leading a team of seven people, including an explosives expert and four deep-sea divers.
The team allegedly placed six high-explosive charges on the pipelines northeast and southeast of Bornholm in September 2022. Prosecutors estimate each timed charge weighed at least 14 kilos.
Preparations began in April 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the indictment states. In June 2022, the group used cover identities to contact sailboat rental firms in northern Germany and Romania. They asked for vessels that did not transmit AIS position signals.
Route past Christiansø
On September 8, 2022, the group boarded the sailing yacht Andromeda in the harbor of Wiek on Rügen and set course for the waters around Bornholm. Witness accounts place the yacht at Christiansø on September 10 to 12. The charges detonated on September 26, first southeast of Bornholm and hours later northeast of the island.
Save up to 2,800 DKK on Your Electricity Bill
FindElpriser helps you switch electricity providers quickly and easily.
German authorities write that the purpose was to cut off Russia’s ability to sell gas to Germany and the rest of Europe. According to the indictment, a parallel plan to blow up the TurkStream pipeline in the Black Sea was abandoned. Investigators have not established why.
Rasmus Brun Pedersen, a lecturer in political science at Aarhus University, told DR that state involvement would imply a decision taken at a high political level. He said it places the Danish and many other Western governments in an uncomfortable dilemma, given their support for Ukraine.
Reuters reported on July 2, 2026, that federal prosecutors had charged the former officer with acting on behalf of Ukrainian state entities, including attacking civilian infrastructure. Reuters also reported on August 19, 2026, that a second Ukrainian suspect had been arrested in Croatia. The BBC noted that prosecutors believe Kuznietsov led a group that used a rented yacht to place explosives near Bornholm.
The indictment does not address whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj approved or knew of the operation. Zelenskyj said in 2023 that his country had nothing to do with Nord Stream. DR asked his office for comment on the indictment and received no reply. Kuznietsov has previously pleaded not guilty and said he was in Ukraine in September 2022.
