The group that carried out the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines included seven people, including the coordinator of the operation, Ukrainian citizen Sergey Kuznetsov, who was arrested in Italy at the request of Germany, according to the European arrest warrant, RIA Novosti reported, which has the document.
"Kuznetsov was tasked with coordinating the entire operation and leading the crew, consisting of the captain of the sailboat, four divers and an explosives expert," the document says.
After the explosives were planted on September 22, 2022, the participants returned to the port of Vik, after which Kuznetsov was taken to Ukraine. Four days later, around At 2:03 and 19:03, explosions occurred, causing ruptures of pipelines up to several hundred meters long, serious damage and the leakage of large volumes of gas into the Baltic Sea.
“The aim of the actions of the defendants and their accomplices was to permanently interrupt gas supplies from the Russian Federation to Germany“, the order states.
As a result, the “Nord Stream 1“ gas pipeline, which previously provided about half of Germany's annual gas needs, became unusable. “Nord Stream 2“ was completed but had not yet been put into operation at the time of the explosions. Both pipelines terminate in Lubmin, Germany.