Yesterday, October 14, 2026, began what is surely one of the weirdest trials in European history.
The Venue is the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court (Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht) in Hamburg.
The Defendant is 50-year-old former Ukrainian military officer Serhii Kuznetsov is accused of organizing and directing the September 2022 explosive sabotage of three of the four Nord Stream gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany beneath the Baltic Sea.
German Federal Prosecutors allege the operation was conducted by Ukrainian operatives acting on behalf of unidentified Ukrainian state authorities. The Ukrainian government has denied involvement.
The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office (Generalbundesanwaltschaft) alleges that Kuznetsov led a group of operatives, including trained divers and an explosives specialist, who are alleged to have chartered the 50-foot sailing yacht Andromeda on September 6, 2022, at the Hohe Düne Marina (Yachthafen Hohe Düne) in Warnemünde, near Rostock, Germany.
Of all the astonishing elements of this story, this detail strikes me as the most bizarre. A diving operation for laying high explosives at four different points in roughly 250 feet of water would require the following gear.
Gas & Breathing Systems
Trimix or Heliox Breathing Gases: Required to manage nitrogen narcosis and oxygen toxicity at extreme depths.
Rebreather or Backmounted Doubles + Decompression Cylinders: Twin-cylinder back gas setup paired with slung/undercarriage deco tanks (containing oxygen-rich mixes or pure oxygen for decompression stops).
Environmentally Sealed Regulators: Independent, high-performance regulator sets for every single tank.
Thermal Protection & Buoyancy
Drysuit: A heavy-duty drysuit with appropriate thermal undergarments is typically required because water temperatures drop drastically at 250 feet.
Wing and Harness or Technical BCD: A heavy-lift backplate and wing system capable of supporting multiple heavy steel cylinders.
Safety, Navigation & Redundancy
Redundant Bottom Timers & Dive Computers: Multi-gas technical dive computers plus backup analog or digital bottom timers.
Surface Marker Buoys (SMBs) & Lift Bags: High-visibility commercial-grade SMBs and lift bags for ascent signaling.
Safety & Wreck Reels / Spools: Sturdy technical reels with high-strength line (such as a primary safety reel and wreck reels).
Cutting Devices & Line Cutters: Multiple backup knives or line cutters to handle entanglement hazards.
Signaling & Rescue Gear: Strobe lights, a mirror, a whistle, and a marine GPS signaling device like the Nautilus Marine Rescue GPS.
Did the spectacle of six Ukrainians schlepping all of this gear onto Pier G of Hohe Düne Marina on September 6, 2022 and loading it onto a sailing yacht raise any questions?
According to the prosecution, the conspirators used false identities, transported military-grade explosives, and attached explosive devices to the underwater pipelines. The resulting detonations on September 26 ruptured three pipeline strings and released enormous quantities of methane into the Baltic Sea—by far the largest incident of human-caused methane (greenhouse gas) pollution (465,000 metric tons) in history. Ordinary Germans need to tighten their belts to hit the goal of “net zero” in the coming years, but the warlords of this world may pollute with impunity.
The charges reported in German court coverage include:
1. War crimes involving attacks on civilian objects (Kriegsverbrechen gegen zivile Objekte). Prosecutors contend that the Nord Stream pipelines were civilian energy infrastructure protected under international humanitarian law. The accusation is brought under Germany’s Code of Crimes against International Law (Völkerstrafgesetzbuch), which permits prosecution of certain international crimes.
2. Causing an explosion using explosives (Herbeiführen einer Sprengstoffexplosion). Under Section 308 of the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB), deliberately causing an explosion that endangers people or property of substantial value.
3. Destruction of structures (Zerstörung von Bauwerken). Section 305 StGB criminalizes the unlawful destruction of certain structures and technical installations. Prosecutors allege that the deliberate destruction of the pipelines falls within this category.
4. Disruption of public services (Störung öffentlicher Betriebe). Section 316b StGB addresses interference with infrastructure serving essential public functions, including energy supplies.
5. Anti-constitutional sabotage (verfassungsfeindliche Sabotage). ZDF has additionally reported this accusation, which raises the question of whether the operation was intended to undermine Germany’s security or constitutional order.
This combination of charges, including allegations of participation or complicity, is important: prosecutors need not prove that Kuznetsov personally placed the explosives if they can establish criminal responsibility for planning, directing, or participating in the operation.
Kuznetsov denies involvement, but he has not entered a formal guilty or not-guilty plea in the manner familiar from American criminal proceedings.
German criminal procedure does not ordinarily require an American-style plea at the opening of trial. After the indictment was read on October 14, Kuznetsov exercised his right to remain silent. His attorneys have stated that he denies participating in the explosions. Defense attorney Nicola Canestrini has stated that Kuznetsov maintains he was in Ukraine when the sabotage occurred.
At the opening hearing, his lawyers sought dismissal of the proceedings and challenged the prosecution’s characterization of the operation as a war crime.
Defense Claims that Pipelines Were Legitimate Military Target
Kuznetsov’s lawyers maintain that the Nord Stream pipelines were not simply civilian energy infrastructure. They argue that Russia used natural gas exports to finance its war against Ukraine and to exert economic and political pressure on European countries.
Canestrini described the pipeline as a Russian weapon and raised the question of whether destroying an aggressor’s infrastructure without causing human casualties necessarily constitutes an unlawful act.
This argument invokes the international law of armed conflict, which distinguishes civilian objects from legitimate military objectives. However, the fact that infrastructure generates revenue for a belligerent state does not automatically make it a lawful military target. The court will have to consider the pipeline’s actual military significance, its civilian functions, and the applicable rules of international humanitarian law.
The defense has also raised the possibility of immunity for acts performed by military personnel on behalf of a sovereign state. German courts have already expressed skepticism about immunity in this case, particularly because the explosions affected German energy interests and sovereign rights.
Kuznetsov’s attorneys assert that, as a Ukrainian officer, he remains bound by military secrecy obligations. According to their statements in court, his superiors have not authorized him to discuss the alleged operation, even confidentially with his own lawyers.
They contend that this restriction makes a fair trial impossible because Kuznetsov cannot reveal potentially exculpatory evidence without violating Ukrainian military orders. The defense has therefore requested that the proceedings be discontinued.
This creates a potentially difficult legal question: Can a German criminal court adjudicate allegations concerning a clandestine foreign military operation when the defendant claims that his own government prohibits him from explaining his activities?
German People Cuckolded by Their Government
Federal prosecutors claim that Ukrainian state authorities organized and directed the attack. At the same time, the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently affirmed its commitment to providing substantial financial and military aid to the unelected oligarchy in Kiev.
Since February 2022, the German government has directed over €43.3 billion in bilateral civilian and financial aid alongside roughly €57.6 billion in provided or earmarked military assistance.
In October 2026, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced an additional military aid contract worth over €2 billion. Concurrently, the government announced a separate €1 billion military package focusing on standoff weapons, combat drones, satellite technology, and anti-drone manufacturing to reinforce Ukraine’s air defense.
This state of the affairs strikes me as a great cuckolding of the German people, who are now playing the role of a husband who pays for his wife to go on luxury holidays with her lover.
I image him receiving an invoice from Mola Yachting Hohe Düne Marina for a three-week romantic Baltic cruise. The next day, he receives photographs of his wife—wearing a dress he recently purchased for her— drinking champagne on board with a handsome Ukrainian oligarch. In the mail he receives a postcard from Christiansø island on which is scrawled:
Serhii and I are having a great time. Hope all is well at the office and that your business isn’t too stressed by high energy prices. I told Mola Yachting to send the charter invoice to your email.
Excellent article John! Especially:
Ordinary Germans need to tighten their belts to hit the goal of “net zero” in the coming years, but the warlords of this world may pollute with impunity.
The surreal outweighs the rational...
Today...the show-trial...
Tomorrow...black is the new white...