He is accused of helping coordinate the 2022 Baltic Sea pipeline attack.

On Thursday, the Bologna Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that a Ukrainian citizen arrested on suspicion of involvement in the sabotage of Russia’s Nord Stream gas pipeline will remain in Rimini prison ahead of his possible extradition to Germany.

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The arrest — the first in connection with the case — was carried out by Italy’s Carabinieri, who executed a European arrest warrant issued Aug. 18 by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice.

The detainee, identified as 49-year-old Sergui K., was vacationing in Italy with his family and was located in a hotel in the town of San Clemente. He did not resist when police intervened, according to the Carabinieri.

His possible presence had been flagged to Italy’s International Police Cooperation Service, which works with law enforcement agencies in other countries. Sergui K. is accused of helping coordinate the operation and faces charges of destruction of infrastructure and unconstitutional sabotage.

Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office (GBA) believes he was part of a group that planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines on the Baltic Sea floor near the Swedish island of Bornholm on Sept. 26, 2022.

Although details of the reconstruction of events have been leaked in recent years by German media, this is the first time prosecutors have publicly released information about the case.

German prosecutors believe the sabotage group used a sailing yacht that departed from the German port of Rostock, which had been rented through intermediaries with falsified identification documents. The suspect is expected to appear before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice once extradited.

According to leaked reports published in recent years by German outlets, prosecutors suspect a group of Ukrainian citizens with ties to that country’s military carried out the sabotage, though it remains unclear to what extent the Ukrainian government was aware of the operation.

The explosion disabled one of the pipelines and caused serious damage to the other. Neither pipeline was transporting gas at the time of the attack, as Nord Stream 2 was never inaugurated and Russian state company Gazprom had already suspended gas flows to Germany through Nord Stream 1 shortly before.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE – La Stampa

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