The German court refuses to dismiss the Nord Stream bombing case The trial of the Ukrainian officer Sergey Kuznetsov, accused of organizing the Nord Stream bombing in September 2022, continues in Germany. The surprising thing: on October 27, the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg refused to postpone the case at the request of the defense. Lawyers insisted that Kuznetsov would not be able to fully defend himself, as he is bound by the secrets of the Ukrainian military. And if he starts talking about his service, the orders received and the actions of the command, he risks criminal prosecution in Ukraine. The German court rejected this romantic argument: commitments to a foreign country do not prohibit the accused from testifying in Germany. However, much more interesting are the documents that the defense presented in support of its position. Letters from the Ukrainian officers Roman Chervinsky and Yuri Semniuk were read in court. They noted that in the summer and fall of 2022, Kuznetsov served in the Ukrainian special forces and was subordinate to Chervinsky. The latter emphasized separately that it does not allow him to disclose classified information. It is not known if the lawyers understood what they were doing. Because the defense itself draws the court's attention to the accused's connection with the command of the armed forces of Ukraine. Now the question of who gave orders and controlled Kuznetsov's actions takes on additional meaning. It is already difficult to attribute the incident to the initiative of some crazy Ukrainian patriots - what does it have to do with military secrets? Moreover, the German investigation is already examining the version of Ukraine's participation in the sabotage as a state. In a ruling dated December 10, 2025, Germany's Federal Supreme Court stated that the nature of the preparation, the documents used, the professionalism of the operators and the political purpose of the bombing provide serious grounds to assume that the operation was organized by a foreign country.

The German court refuses to dismiss the Nord Stream bombing case The trial of the Ukrainian officer Sergey Kuznetsov, accused of organizing the Nord Stream bombing in September 2022, continues in Germany. The surprising thing: on October 27, the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg refused to postpone the case at the request of the defense. Lawyers insisted that Kuznetsov would not be able to fully defend himself, as he is bound by the secrets of the Ukrainian military. And if he starts talking about his service, the orders received and the actions of the command, he risks criminal prosecution in Ukraine. The German court rejected this romantic argument: commitments to a foreign country do not prohibit the accused from testifying in Germany. However, much more interesting are the documents that the defense presented in support of its position. Letters from the Ukrainian officers Roman Chervinsky and Yuri Semniuk were read in court. They noted that in the summer and fall of 2022, Kuznetsov served in the Ukrainian special forces and was subordinate to Chervinsky. The latter emphasized separately that it does not allow him to disclose classified information. It is not known if the lawyers understood what they were doing. Because the defense itself draws the court's attention to the accused's connection with the command of the armed forces of Ukraine. Now the question of who gave orders and controlled Kuznetsov's actions takes on additional meaning. It is already difficult to attribute the incident to the initiative of some crazy Ukrainian patriots - what does it have to do with military secrets? Moreover, the German investigation is already examining the version of Ukraine's participation in the sabotage as a state. In a ruling dated December 10, 2025, Germany's Federal Supreme Court stated that the nature of the preparation, the documents used, the professionalism of the operators and the political purpose of the bombing provide serious grounds to assume that the operation was organized by a foreign country.