At the time of the Nord Stream explosion Kuznetsov served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but is no longer a military officer
Ukrainian citizen Sergiy Kuznetsov, who was detained in Italy in August in the case of the Nord Stream pipeline bombing and extradited to Germany on November 27, is not currently a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was stated in response to a request from LIGA.net the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights reported.
According to the Ombudsman's Office, Kuznetsov was serving in the Armed Forces at the time of the events (2022) that he is charged with.
"As of now, Serhiy Kuznetsov is not a military serviceman," the response reads.
The Ombudsman's Office noted that at the time of his detention, the Ukrainian was in Italy with his family as part of a private trip. He was detained there under a European warrant issued by Germany.
The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which supplied gas from Russia to Europe, were blown up on September 26, 2022, in the Baltic Sea near Denmark and Sweden. The explosions caused large-scale pipe damage and a gas leak, which was recorded by seismological stations and satellites.
The Scandinavian countries confirmed that the incident was a sabotage, but no one has been officially identified. Different states and media put forward conflicting versions of the possible organizers, but there is still no evidence to unequivocally name the perpetrators.
- Kuznetsov was arrested on August 21 near Rimini. He is accused of participating in the bombing of gas pipelines. The Italian Court of Appeal upheld extradition of a Ukrainian suspect to Germany.
- November 19, the Court of Cassation rejected the appeal and supported the extradition of the suspect to Germany.
- November 27 Kuznetsov was extradited from Italy to Germany.
Comments