Italian Supreme Court overturns extradition of Ukrainian in Nord Stream sabotage case
Italy's Supreme Court on Oct. 15 overturned a decision to extradite Ukrainian national Serhii Kuznetsov to Germany, where he is accused of involvement in sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Italian media outlet Ansa reported.
The decision comes amid tensions over the unsolved Nord Stream explosions, which destroyed key pipelines linking Russia and Germany and fueled international speculation and competing accusations.
The ruling sends the case back to a new panel of judges at the Bologna Court of Appeal for review.
During the hearing, prosecutors requested that one of the appeal arguments raised by Kuznetsov's defense — the alleged misclassification of facts in the European arrest warrant — be accepted.
The case of Kuznetsov and other Ukrainian nationals wanted by Germany has become a diplomatic flashpoint between European states.
Italian police arrested Kuznetsov on Aug. 21 under a European arrest warrant issued by Germany, whose prosecutors suspect him of coordinating the operation to blow up the pipelines.
The 49-year-old denies the charges, claiming he was in Ukraine at the time of the explosions.
Polish authorities detained another Ukrainian citizen, identified as Volodymyr Z., in the town of Pruszkow on Sept. 30, also under a German warrant on similar charges.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said extraditing the suspect would go "against Poland's interests," saying that those who built the Nord Stream 2 pipeline "should be ashamed and remain silent."
Polish Intelligence Services Coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak described the case as "extremely serious," noting that the court has up to 100 days to decide. German investigators allege that Volodymyr Z., a diving instructor, helped place explosives on the pipelines.
According to German prosecutors, the perpetrators used a rented sailing yacht that departed from the German port of Rostock. The vessel was reportedly obtained through intermediaries using forged documents from a German company.
Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Bodnar said on Oct. 7 that Kyiv is not interfering in the extradition proceedings. German investigators previously linked the sabotage to a pro-Ukraine group but have not alleged any involvement by the Ukrainian government.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never became operational, had long been a flashpoint in European energy politics. Even before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, critics warned that it deepened Germany's dependence on Russian gas and undermined European energy security.
In 2021, before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Nord Stream 1 supplied over one-third of Russia's gas exports to Europe. In 2024, Czech President Petr Pavel said that the pipelines were a "legitimate target" if Ukraine had indeed been behind the attack.
