Ukrainian suspect detained in Italy for Nord Stream sabotage

A Ukrainian suspect was arrested in Italy for allegedly participating in sabotage targeting the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022, German prosecutors said on Thursday.

The man is accused of participating in causing undersea explosions as well as anti-constitutional sabotage, among other things, the office of the Public Prosecutor General in Karlsruhe said.

The suspect is said to be part of a group of people who planted explosive devices on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea some three years ago.

"The accused was presumably one of the coordinators of the operation," the federal prosecutor's office said.

Italian police arrested the man in Rimini province overnight. He is set to be extradited to Germany, prosecutors said, noting that the operation was conducted in cooperation with international police.

The Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, which run from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, were damaged by several explosions at the end of September 2022.

Shortly afterwards, four leaks were discovered in three of the four pipeline sections.

Nord Stream 1 had previously been used to supply Germany with Russian gas, while Nord Stream 2 was never put into operation following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

After the damage was discovered, questions quickly arose as to how the perpetrators managed to place the explosives on the pipelines underwater.

Experts speculated that professional divers might have been involved in attaching the devices in several locations.

German prosecutors said Thursday that the suspect and an accomplice used a sailboat for the sabotage, which set off from the north-eastern German city of Rostock.

The vessel was rented from a German company via intermediaries using fake documents, it said.

Investigations were launched in a number of countries bordering the Baltic Sea, but authorities in Sweden and Denmark have since ceased the efforts.