Ukraine denies Nord Stream sabotage, proposes joint probe

Ukraine has formally denied any state involvement in the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines and has proposed forming a joint investigation team with Germany, seeking to de-escalate a growing diplomatic rift. The statement from Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, issued on July 9, 2026, represents Kyiv’s most direct rebuttal to German prosecutors, who suspect Ukrainian entities orchestrated the underwater bombings.

The explosions on September 26, 2022, severely damaged the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, rupturing a major conduit for Russian natural gas to Europe. Investigators concluded that several hundred kilograms of military-grade explosives were meticulously placed on the pipelines at depths of 70 to 80 meters, an operation requiring specialized diving expertise.

The denial follows German federal prosecutors charging a former Ukrainian army officer, identified as Serhii Kuznetsov, with being a co-perpetrator of a war crime related to the blasts. German authorities allege Kuznetsov, who served in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces in 2022, collaborated with others to execute the attack to cripple Russian state revenues. He was...