"Nord Stream": Ukrainian detained in Italy says he was in homeland during the explosions

Ukrainian Serhiy Kuznetsov, arrested in Italy and accused of allegedly blowing up the Russian Nord Stream gas pipelines, said in court that was in his homeland on the day of the incident. About this reported italian media outlet ANSA and confirmed by Mykola Katerynchuk, attorney and chairman of Katerynchuk, Moor & Partners law firm in the comments to Suspilne.

According to the lawyer, he provides legal assistance to those who are being accused of undermining the "streams"; the lawyer advised the family of the arrested Kuznetsov – during the trial on the preventive measure, he received a free lawyer from Italy, which he refused.

Katerynchuk noted that at the trial, the detained Ukrainian refused extradition to Germany: Germany requested it, and the Italian prosecutor's office granted the request. The trial in this regard is scheduled for September 3.

The lawyer also said that Kuznetsov already has a lawyer to defend him.

"The lawyer contacted the Consulate of Ukraine in Italy. I would like the consulate to take a tough stance to protect the legitimate interests of a Ukrainian citizen accused of such a serious crime and provide all the necessary assistance to the family," the lawyer said.

According to him, the detainee's wife had to deal with the "rude" behavior of the Italian police during the detention.

Kuznetsov, along with his wife and minor children, arrived in Italy on August 13 for a vacation, and on August 20, the man was arrested (German prosecutors claimed that this happened on the 21st of) and his children and wife were also taken away by the police, the lawyer said.

He claims that the local police did not provide an interpreter for his wife, demanded that she sign documents in Italian and threatened to arrest her if she refused.

In total, the woman was detained for 2.5 hours – she was released after she, on the advice of her husband, began to film the behavior of law enforcement officers, the lawyer said. He also added that the police did not call the consul to the Ukrainian woman. It is not yet possible to verify this data.

"All this time, Serhiy has been in a pre-trial detention center. Today he was brought to court and arrest was chosen as a measure of restraint," Katerynchuk said.

• The explosions on the Nord Stream pipeline route occurred in September 2022. They disrupted three of the four pipelines, which were out of service at the time due to full-scale Russian aggression but were filled with gas. In July 2025, the EU imposed sanctions by banning the operation of these pipelines.

• WSJ citing its own sources states that Kuznetsov was a retired captain of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and had allegedly worked for the Security Service of Ukraine. This was not officially reported. Last year, the same publication accused Kyiv of undermining the Nord Stream pipeline, and the Ukrainian authorities refuted these data.

• In June 2024, German investigators issued an arrest warrant for a man named Volodymyr Zh., a Ukrainian diving instructor living in Poland. However, he was managed to avoid arrest.