Special forces officer Serhii Kuznetsov denies involvement in the 2022 blasts that left pipelines badly damaged

A Ukrainian soldier led a team of divers that, acting on the order of state authorities, laid explosives on the bed of the Baltic Sea to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipelines, a court has heard.

On the opening day of his trial in the German city of Hamburg, Serhii Kuznetsov, who was a special forces officer with the Ukrainian military at the time of the pipeline attacks in 2022, was accused by prosecutors of being an accomplice to war crimes by attacking civilian infrastructure, causing an explosion, damaging property and disrupting public services.

August Hanning, 80, appears before judge after being accused of treason and espionage on behalf of foreign state

A formal arrest warrant has been issued against Germany’s former top spy, with a judge ordering him to be held in pre-trial detention, a day after he was arrested on suspicion of treason and spying on behalf of an overseas intelligence agency.

August Hanning, 80, is accused of buying secret documents from a former colleague and using them to advise a foreign intelligence service, according to the office of the federal prosecutor.