Nord Stream trial: How German police followed the evidence - to Ukraine
German authorities have charged a former Ukrainian soldier, identified as Serhii K, with sabotage and war crimes related to the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions. The trial is set to begin in Hamburg following an extensive investigation into the attack on the critical energy infrastructure.
Why it matters
The trial is a major geopolitical development concerning the sabotage of international energy infrastructure and the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Image source, Swedish Coast Guard Image caption, Three of the four Nord Stream pipelines were ruptured by explosions in September 2022
Serhii K appeared relaxed as he checked in to the glamping resort near Italy's Adriatic coast with his wife and young children.
Dressed in shorts, sandals and a dark baseball cap, the former Ukrainian Special Forces soldier strolled back and forth, chatting with the receptionist and dipping repeatedly into a bowl of free snacks.
But German police were already closing in on him.
After a painstaking investigation, they had concluded that Serhii K had commanded Europe's biggest act of sabotage in decades: a series of explosions in September 2022 deep beneath the Baltic Sea that ripped through the giant Nord Stream pipelines and ruptured the supply of Russian gas to Germany.
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