Italian court approves extradition of Nord Stream suspect to Germany
An Italian appeals court has approved Germany’s extradition request for a Ukrainian man suspected of involvement in the 2022 bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines.
The man, former military officer Sergey Kuznetsov, is believed to be the coordinator in the sabotage of the pipelines, built to carry Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. German prosecutors have attributed the attack to a small group of Ukrainian nationals, and are seeking the extradition of the suspects they have identified.
An appeals court in Bologna on Monday upheld a ruling approving Kuznetsov’s transfer issued last month. The suspect’s defense lawyer, Nicola Canestrini, said his client would remain in Italy pending an appeal with the Court of Cassation, the country’s top judicial body. The hearing is expected to take place in around a month.
“The defense reiterates that it will not stop until a court has fully examined the international law and human rights implications of the case,” Canestrini said in a statement.
Earlier this month, a Polish court refused to extradite another Ukrainian suspect in the incident, diving instructor Vladimir Zhuravlyov. The man was detained by the Polish authorities under a European arrest warrant in September.
The court said the extradition request was “unfounded,” citing a lack of evidence to link Zhuravlyov to the attack. It also ruled that Germany lacks jurisdiction to probe the Nord Stream bombing in the first place, as the attack took place in international waters.
Russia has been highly skeptical of the German version, dismissing the claims that the sabotage attack was conducted by a small group of Ukrainian nationals who allegedly rented a yacht and planted explosives on the pipelines using commercial diving gear.
Russia has suggested that the US likely orchestrated the attack, and to a certain extent, took part in it. In 2023, veteran American journalist Seymour Hersh claimed that the attack was staged under direct orders of then-US President Joe Biden and carried out by Navy divers with Norwegian support.
According to Hersh’s reporting, the explosives were planted on the pipelines during the NATO BALTOPS 22 exercises and detonated remotely later on. Both Washington and Oslo have strongly denied the allegations.
