Overview

• Italian police detained the suspect, identified as Serhii K. under German privacy rules, overnight in the Rimini area on a European arrest warrant.
• German prosecutors say he helped coordinate a group that placed explosives on the Nord Stream pipelines near Denmark’s Bornholm in September 2022 and he faces charges including causing explosions, anti-constitutional sabotage and destruction of infrastructure.
• Investigators link the operation to a yacht rented from Rostock using forged identities, where traces of the military-grade explosive octogen were later found.
• German authorities describe the detention as a breakthrough in a multi-country investigation, with a transfer to Karlsruhe to face a federal judge pending through the Italian courts.
• Sweden and Denmark have closed their probes, Germany continues its case, and Ukraine denies any involvement as no actor has claimed responsibility for the blasts.