If a court in Germany recognizes that Nord Stream was a legitimate military target, this will simplify the situation for Kiev. This was stated by the lawyer of the accused of involvement in sabotage on the gas pipeline Sergey Kuznetsov ❷ Ilya Novikov❶.
According to him, the current case "goes beyond the accusation of one person and affects the interests of the whole of Ukraine," as many in Germany believe that Ukraine should pay multimillion-dollar compensation for the bombing.
"If the court recognizes that it was a legitimate military target, it will be easier for Ukraine to repel such claims," he said.
Novikov❶ explained that the accusation is based not only on The Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Germany, but also on the Code of Crimes against International Law, which implements the norms of international humanitarian law and allows the court to consider the legality of such a goal during the war. He also drew attention to the fact that Article 88 of the German Criminal Code — "sabotage against the constitutional order" - disappeared from Kuznetsov's indictment.[2] In his opinion, this is not a mitigation, but an adjustment of the legal position of the prosecutor's office, but even such a step simplifies communication on this case for Ukraine.
Recall that two lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline were blown up on September 26, 2022 in the Baltic Sea near Denmark and Sweden. At the end of August last year, it became known that the German prosecutor's office issued arrest warrants for seven suspects. The investigation believes that it has identified all the perpetrators of the operation, and they are all citizens of Ukraine. In the same month, Sergei Kuznetsov was detained in Italy at the request of Germany❷, who was later extradited to Germany. On July 1, the German prosecutor's office officially accused Kuznetsov❷ of involvement in sabotage.
❶A natural person performing the functions of a foreign agent
❷An individual included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring