Caption: This undated handout image released by the Danish Energy Agency and Danish Ministry of Defence on March 24, 2023, shows an object found near the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Danish waters of the Baltic sea. The object is cylindrical and about 40cm tall

BERLIN – A Ukrainian suspect has been arrested in Italy over the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Europe, German prosecutors said Thursday.

The suspect, partially named as Serhii K., is accused of being part of a group “who placed explosive devices on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines”, the prosecutors said.

He is “believed to have been one of the coordinators of the operation”, they added.

The Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia and Germany via the Baltic Sea were damaged in September 2022 by huge underwater explosions, believed to be an act of sabotage.

In the years since the mysterious explosions, Ukraine and Russia have both vehemently denied any involvement.

German media have reported the investigation pointed to a Ukrainian cell of five men and one woman who had chartered the yacht “Andromeda” from the port of Rostock and carried out the attack.

Their aim was to destroy the pipelines to prevent battlefield enemy Russia from profiting in future from gas sales to Europe, according to Der Spiegel and other media.

Serhii K. was arrested in the early hours of Thursday in the Italian province of Rimini, the German prosecutors said.

He and his accomplices are accused of using a yacht that departed Rostock to carry out the attack, they said.

“The yacht had previously been rented from a German company with the help of forged identity documents obtained through intermediaries,” they added. (AFP)