Italy’s highest court has approved the extradition of the Ukrainian national suspected of involvement in an explosion that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines over three years ago.
The Nord Stream pipelines were important for supplying Russian natural gas to Europe, directly through Germany and avoiding Ukraine.
They were crucial for Europe’s energy security by diversifying import routes, and also had high geopolitical use.
The 2022 sabotage left three of the four pipelines inoperable.
German authorities believe that Serhii Kuznietsov was involved in the underwater blasts that ruptured the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which transported Russian natural gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea.
His involvement entails being one of the coordinators of a group that planted explosives on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines near Denmark’s Bornholm Island in September 2022, with the operation being carried out on a sailing watch.
According to extradition documents, prosecutors also said Kuznietsov organized and carried out the detonation of at least four bombs containing 14kg to 27kg of explosives at a depth of 70 to 80 metres.
49-year-old Serhii Kuznietsov was detained in August on a European arrest warrant while holidaying with his family at a campground near Rimini.
Kuznietsov says he was a member of the Ukrainian armed forces and in Ukraine at the time of the incident, a claim his defence team has said would give him functional immunity under international law.
Italy did not originally rush to hand him over to Germany, originally even blocking his extradition through revisions, but last week, the Cassation Court rejected his final appeal, and he will be transferred to Germany. This was probably the result of pressure from the European Parliament.
Still detained, Kuznietsov was last known to be holding a hunger strike at the end of October. His wife then said he was in critical condition.
