The trial of Ukrainian serviceman Serhii Kuznetsov accused of helping organize the 2022 explosions that damaged Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 began at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg. Kuznetsov, detained and extradited from Italy, is charged with a war crime. German broadcaster NDR reported that at the start of the session, he “briefly saluted.” The prosecutor read the indictment, with simultaneous interpretation. The court hearing was moved to a closed format after Kuznetsov’s defense asked for it, saying his testimony could involve Ukrainian military secrets because he is still a serviceman. His lawyers, made up of two Germans and one Italian, also argued he has been kept in a solitary cell for almost 11 months with virtually no social contact. Prosecutors allege Kuznetsov, identified in German court documents as Serhii K., coordinated a seven-person team behind the September 2022 Baltic Sea blasts. Investigators say the group sailed into the area aboard a rented yacht, the Andromeda, in late summer 2022 and attached explosive devices containing RDX and HMX to the pipelines at about 80 meters depth. German investigators say three of the four pipeline strings were severely damaged by explosions on Sept. 26, 2022. Neither pipeline was transporting gas at the time, but both contained gas under pressure. The charges include complicity in a war crime tied to an attack on civilian infrastructure, involving causing an explosion that destroyed structures and disrupted public services. Ukrainian citizens who traveled from Kyiv to Hamburg erected a Ukrainian flag outside the court building before the hearing. Reuters published photos from the first session, showing Kuznetsov in civilian clothes beside his lawyers. Kuznetsov was arrested in Italy in August 2025 and extradited to Germany in November 2025. Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office charged him in July 2026, and the trial is set to continue on Oct. 27, with further hearing dates scheduled through Dec. 17.