The man of Ukrainian origin was arrested in Italy on suspicion of leading a unit that blew up sections of the pipelines in September 2022
Several Italian outlets on Friday released an image purportedly showing the Ukrainian man arrested a day earlier over his alleged involvement in the Nord Stream pipeline bombing.
The man, identified by the media as 49-year-old Sergey Kuznetsov, is suspected of leading the team that sabotaged the pipelines in September 2022.
The image – published by La Stampa and Open Online – appears to be either a police photofit or a photo from identity documents. Neither outlet disclosed its origin.
Kuznetsov was detained near Rimini on Thursday under a European arrest warrant issued this month by German prosecutors. Investigators allege he helped plant explosives on the pipelines near Denmark’s Bornholm Island, which disabled three of the four Nord Stream lines. The man allegedly oversaw divers placing the explosives from a sailing yacht rented using forged document in Rostock, Germany.
Sabotaggio Nord Stream, chi è il capo del commando arrestato in vacanza a Rimini https://t.co/RqdG19Dl6q
According to Italian media, the suspect entered Italy under the alias Serhii Kulinic with his family on a tour booked through Booking.com. The authorities reportedly tracked his movements until his name, which had been recorded in a local hotel’s guest database, triggered an Interpol alert. He reportedly offered no resistance and handed over documents, phones, computers, tablets, and credit cards upon arrest.
Kuznetsov faces charges under German law for causing an explosion, anti-constitutional sabotage, and destruction of infrastructure – offenses that could carry a 15-year sentence. He is expected to appear at the Bologna Court of Appeal later on Friday for a hearing to validate his arrest and set a date for extradition to Germany. However, La Stampa also reported that he is being investigated in a separate case by the Genoa prosecutor’s office over a February bombing that damaged the Seajewel, a Maltese-flagged tanker off the coast of Savona.
The Nord Stream explosion was widely viewed as deliberate and several European countries launched probes. While some initially blamed Russia, Moscow – which co-owns the pipelines – dismissed the claims and opened an international terrorism investigation. In 2023, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh alleged the attack had been ordered by then-US President Joe Biden’s administration. The White House called the report “complete fiction.”
