BERLIN (AP) 鈥� German federal prosecutors on Thursday filed charges against a former Ukrainian army officer over undersea explosions that between Russia and Germany four years ago.
The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. in line with local privacy rules, faces charges of causing an explosion, damaging property, disrupting public service and being an 鈥渁ccomplice to war crimes鈥� by attacking civilian objects, prosecutors said in a statement.
The undersea explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, damaged pipelines that were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea.
They added to tensions over the as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources, following the Kremlin鈥檚 full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Prosecutors say the aim of the plot was to permanently disrupt gas deliveries via the pipelines and prevent Russia from using the revenues from natural gas trading to finance its military operations.
The suspect was in an Italian village, where officers raided a bungalow where he was staying with his family. Police said he surrendered without resistance. He was
Serhii K. and others allegedly used a yacht that set off from the German port of Rostock, which had been hired from a German company using forged IDs and with the help of intermediaries.
The explosions ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which was Russia鈥檚 main natural gas supply route to Germany until Moscow in August 2022. They also damaged Nord Stream 2, which never entered service because Germany shortly before Russia’s invasion.
Russia has accused the U.S. of staging the explosions, a charge Washington has denied. The pipelines were long and some of its allies, which warned that they increased dependence on Russian gas.
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