German federal prosecutors said on Thursday that a Ukrainian national tied to the Nord Stream pipeline blasts has been charged with being an accomplice to a war crime, disruption of public services, causing an explosion and destroying structures.
Serhii K, as the suspect is known under German privacy rules, is suspected of acting on behalf of Ukrainian government entities, along with other military personnel, to destroy the pipelines in 2022.
The aim was to permanently halt gas deliveries via the pipelines and prevent Russia from using the revenue from natural gas trade to finance its war efforts, prosecutors said.
The defendant, leading a team of professional divers and an explosives expert, entered Germany on a forged Ukrainian passport in September 2022 and boarded a yacht rented through forged identification documents, they said.
He and his accomplices then transported large quantities of high-performance explosives suitable for military use through international waters to a location near the Danish island of Bornholm, from where he attached them to the undersea pipelines, according to the statement.
Serhii K was arrested in Italy last August and transferred to Germany in November. He has denied involvement.
German courts have treated the case as falling within German jurisdiction because the damaged pipelines end at Lubmin in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and their loss affected Germany's energy security and internal safety.
(Reporting by Miranda Murray, editing by Thomas Seythal)