A Ukrainian man was arrested at a holiday bungalow in Italy on suspicion of coordinating attacks on three Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022, officials said on Thursday, a breakthrough in an
A Ukrainian man was arrested at a holiday bungalow in Italy on suspicion of coordinating attacks on three Nord Stream gas pipelines in 2022, officials said on Thursday, a breakthrough in an episode that sharpened tensions between Russia and the West.
Described by both Moscow and the West as an act of sabotage, the explosions largely severed Russian gas supplies to Europe, prompting a major escalation in the Ukraine conflict and squeezing energy supplies on the continent. No one has taken responsibility for the blasts and Ukraine has denied any role.
The arrest comes just as Kyiv is engaged in fraught diplomatic discussions with the United States over how to end the war in Ukraine without giving away major concessions and swathes of its own territory to Russia.
"Politically we are firmly on Ukraine's side and will continue to be so," said Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig when asked if the arrest would affect Berlin's ties to Kyiv. "What is important for me is that Germany is a country of law, and crimes in our jurisdiction are fully investigated."
The suspect, identified only as Serhii K. under German privacy laws, was part of a group of people who planted devices on the
Content Original Link:
" target="_blank">
