Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in Kyiv on Sunday that Ukraine never ordered the sabotage of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline off Bornholm. German prosecutors allege the blasts were a Ukrainian state military operation.
DR reports that Zelenskyy made the comments at a press conference in the Ukrainian capital on August 23, 2026. He said what happened had nothing to do with Ukraine, and that his country had not officially ordered any operation aimed at blowing up Nord Stream 2.
Asked whether the destruction benefited Ukraine, the president declined to answer. According to DR, he said the case is ongoing, with an incident, an accusation, witnesses and a trial. He added that Ukraine is cooperating with the investigation.
The same day, Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, met Zelenskyy privately at the Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv, DR notes. Bloomberg reports that the president spoke at a Ukraine Nordic-Baltic summit in the city, stating that Ukraine played no role in the sabotage.
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The German indictment
An indictment from Germany’s federal prosecutor, obtained by DR and dated June 25, 2026, takes a different view. According to the document, German prosecutors regard the Nord Stream 2 explosion as a state Ukrainian military operation, carried out in part by specially trained Ukrainian officers.
Former Ukrainian armed forces officer Serhii Kuznietsov is accused of leading a team of seven people, DR reports. The group allegedly included an explosives expert and four deep-sea divers, who placed high-explosive charges on the Nord Stream pipes on the Baltic seabed.
Germany’s Federal Prosecutor announced charges against Kuznietsov on June 30, 2026, Ukrainska Pravda reported. The statement alleges he and other servicemen developed a plan to destroy Nord Stream 1 and 2 on the orders of state authorities in Ukraine. He is charged with aiding and abetting a war crime through an attack on civilian infrastructure.
Ukraine’s own prosecutors reject that account. The Prosecutor General’s Office said on July 9, 2026, that no evidence had been established showing that the Ukrainian state, its institutions or officials ordered or took part in the sabotage, according to the Kyiv Independent. The office said it continues to cooperate with German authorities.
Why the case is back in focus
Bloomberg links Zelenskyy’s renewed denial to recent movement in the German case, including the arrest of a second Ukrainian suspect in Croatia. Al Jazeera reported that arrest on August 19, 2026.
ANews reports that Zelenskyy also said Germany is aware Ukraine stood behind neither the conception nor the execution of the operation.
