Hamburg court rejects bid to halt Nord Stream sabotage trial of ex-Ukrainian captain

Court rejects bid to halt the trial

The Hamburg Higher Regional Court dismissed a defence motion to stop the trial of Serhii Kuznetsov on Tuesday, 27 October, the second day of hearings. Presiding judge Anne Meier-Göring ruled that the case will proceed as planned. Kuznetsov, 50, is a former captain in the Ukrainian armed forces. Federal prosecutors charge him with causing an explosion, damaging property and complicity in a war crime, and they allege that he led a group of sabotage divers, an explosives specialist and a boat skipper. He was arrested in August 2025 while on holiday in Italy and later extradited to Germany.

Defence argues a secrecy oath

Kuznetsov's lawyers say his military oath of secrecy bars him from discussing the case with them or testifying in court, which in their view makes a fair defence impossible. They added that he could face heavy punishment in Ukraine if he spoke. Kuznetsov has declined to speak in his own defence, and the defence first asked for the case to be dropped at the first hearing two weeks earlier.

Meier-Göring said the freedom to testify in Germany is not limited by the service rules of another state. She rejected the argument in these terms:

“Under German law, the defendant is not restricted in his defence.”

The judge also questioned whether the sworn statements from the alleged former superiors count as official documents, noting that the two men could themselves have taken part in the attack. Federal prosecutors described the two superiors as backers of the operation, which the court said casts doubt on their statements.

Former superiors' statements

Two notarised affidavits from former military superiors were read to the court that day, along with official records of Kuznetsov's service during the period of the attacks. Roman Chervinsky, a colonel who was deputy commander of Kuznetsov's unit, wrote that the captain had been under his 'direct command' until October 2022. In the same statement he said Kuznetsov never left his post without authorisation from the commander-in-chief.

“Captain Kuznetsov never left his place of duty of his own accord and without the authorisation of the commander-in-chief.”

Chervinsky also argued that the Nord Stream pipelines were a legitimate target, because they supported actions that threaten Ukraine's territorial integrity and independence. He is currently involved in a separate, long-running case over alleged abuse of office, which the articles describe as unrelated to this trial.

The 2022 attacks

The explosions occurred on 26 September 2022 near the Danish island of Bornholm. Thomas Forster, an expert from the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), presented a PowerPoint account to the court. He said the first blast came at 2:03 am and tore a hole in one of the two strands of Nord Stream 2 at a depth of 77 metres, while the other strand was damaged only on its outer layers. Forster said the pipeline was still filled with gas at 103 bar, and that the escaping jet produced thrust comparable to a rocket engine. Russia had stopped operating both lines months earlier, and Nord Stream 2 had never entered service.

Kyiv's position

Prosecutors have concluded that the plans for the sabotage were drawn up on orders from Ukrainian state bodies. The government in Kyiv denies any official involvement in operations against the pipelines, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly and categorically denied state involvement in the attack.

What comes next

The court has set hearing dates running to the end of January. The presiding judge said only Kuznetsov himself can resolve the dilemma over his secrecy duty by deciding how to proceed, and that giving an account of the allegations does not necessarily require disclosing secret data. The defence has submitted a motion to have the trial dismissed, and the court's rejection of that motion means the proceedings continue.