How six Ukrainian divers could have blown up Russia’s $20bn pipelines

What the report says

A German trial is examining one of the most consequential acts of sabotage linked to the war in Ukraine: the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022. According to Al Jazeera, the case centers on Serhii Kuznetsov, a Ukrainian military officer who is accused of leading a six-person diving team involved in the operation. The alleged attack severed a major energy route that had connected Russia and Europe.

The pipelines, often referred to as Nord Stream, were built to carry Russian gas to European markets and had long been a source of political dispute as well as energy dependence. Their destruction left investigators in several countries trying to determine who was responsible, while the incident itself remained unresolved for years. Al Jazeera’s report frames the trial as a new stage in that investigation, with prosecutors in Germany now addressing allegations against a named suspect.

The case matters because the blasts became a symbol of the wider security and energy fallout from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Beyond the immediate damage to infrastructure, the sabotage intensified questions about cross-border covert operations, accountability and the vulnerability of critical undersea systems. The public article does not provide further courtroom details or a final legal outcome.