The Nord Stream trial: Ukraine-s strategy of silence

The Nord Stream trial: Ukraine-s strategy of silence

Germany’s star suspect won’t talk, and his defense team thinks that building the pipeline was the real crime
The trial of Nord Stream bombing suspect Sergey Kuznetsov is underway in Germany, and the Ukrainian veteran’s defense team have revealed their strategy: say nothing and blame Russia.
Kuznetsov arrived at the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg under heavy security on Wednesday. The hearing is the first of 24 sessions scheduled between now and February, as German prosecutors attempt to prove that the Ukrainian military veteran led the sabotage operation that destroyed the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in September 2022, an act that they say constitutes a war crime.
What is Sergey Kuznetsov accused of?The allegations against Kuznetsov largely follow the German government’s version of events, which have been drip-fed to Western media outlets in a series of leaks over the last four years. Kuznetsov, prosecutors claim, entered Germany in September 2022 using a forged Ukrainian passport, rented a pleasure yacht with six accomplices, and planted explosives on one of the four undersea lines comprising the Nord Stream project while his team sabotaged the remaining three, all on behalf of Ukrainian state authorities.
Variations on the story – that the CIA approved or didn’t approve of the operation, and whether or not Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky personally ordered it – have circulated in the media, but Kuznetsov’s alleged involvement remains a constant in most retellings.
American journalist Seymour Hersh has shot down the German story, arguing that the Ukrainian saboteurs would not have been able to transport the requisite deep-sea diving gear and explosives aboard a 15-meter yacht, and almost certainly would have been caught in the act, as NATO was conducting active military exercises in the same area of the Baltic Sea at the time of the alleged sabotage operation. Citing intelligence sources, Hersh maintains that the CIA, working with the Norwegian Navy, used the NATO exercises as cover to plant remotely-detonated explosive devices on the Nord Stream lines.
Where are his accomplices? Alleged Nord Stream saboteur Vladimir Zhuravlyov listens during his extradition hearing in Warsaw, Poland, October 17, 2025 ©  Getty Images;  Omar Marques Kuznetsov is the only one of the seven alleged saboteurs currently on trial. Another suspect, identified as ‘Vladimir Z’, was detained in Croatia in August and is currently fighting extradition to Germany. According to German media, three civilian divers and the yacht’s skipper – all Ukrainians – remain at large, while a military explosives expert who reportedly took part in the operation was killed in Ukraine in 2024.
What is the evidence against Kuznetsov?The prosecution did not present any evidence against Kuznetsov at Wednesday’s hearing. However, Germany’s state ARD and NDR broadcasters have published details from the 136-page indictment against him. According to this report, prosecutors intend to focus on:
A phone call from Kuznetsov to his wife, made in Italian custody last year, in which he defended the bombing as an official military operation
Photographs from tourists and speed cameras placing Kuznetsov in Germany at the time of the alleged operation
Traces of the military explosives RDX and HMX from the yacht, the ‘Andromeda’
Internet searches for technical data on the Nord Stream lines and Baltic Sea depths, obtained from Kuznetsov’s phone
What did Kuznetsov say in court?Kuznetsov remained completely silent throughout Wednesday’s proceedings. His lawyers explained that as Kuznetsov was an officer in the Ukrainian military at the time of the Nord Stream attack, he cannot testify without divulging state secrets. He will remain silent for the rest of the trial.
What did his defense team say?Kuznetsov’s lawyers did not outright deny their clien