An Italian court has ordered the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian suspected of coordinating attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea in 2022, Reuters reports. The man, identified as Serhiy K. under German privacy laws, was detained last month near the Italian city of Rimini on a European arrest warrant, News.bg reports.
The suspect's team said it would appeal the ruling at the Court of Cassation, Italy's highest court, stressing that “fundamental rights - a fair trial, detention conditions, functional immunity cannot be sacrificed in the name of automatic judicial cooperation“.
The attacks on the gas pipelines, described as sabotage by both Moscow and the West, have led to significant disruptions in Russian gas supplies to Europe, an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and restrictions on energy supplies to the continent. In August, German prosecutors announced that the suspect was part of a group that planted devices near the Danish island of Bornholm. He is charged with conspiracy to cause an explosion, unconstitutional sabotage and the destruction of important structures.