Serhii Kuznetsov went on trial in Hamburg on October 14 over his alleged role in the Nord Stream pipeline explosions, the BBC reported. The Ukrainian defendant denies the charges, and his lawyers have asked for the case to be dismissed.
Prosecutors accuse Kuznetsov of directing divers and an explosives expert to attack civilian infrastructure. They argue that the alleged attack constitutes a war crime under Germany's code of crimes against international law.
The defense says the investigation has produced only circumstantial evidence. It also challenges the extradition process, arguing that the war-crime allegation was not mentioned when Kuznetsov was extradited to Germany.
Prosecutors say traces of subsea explosives were found in samples from the rented yacht Andromeda. Their indictment alleges that the plot was ordered by Ukrainian state agencies. President Volodymyr Zelensky has maintained that Ukraine had no involvement in the blasts.
The explosions destroyed three of the four pipelines in the Baltic Sea on September 26, 2022. Russia had already stopped gas flows through Nord Stream 1, while Nord Stream 2 had never entered operation.
