Italy approves extradition to Germany of Ukrainian suspect in North Stream pipeline explosions

MILAN (AP) — An Italian appeals court approved the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian man arrested last month on suspicion of setting off explosions that damaged North Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Germany, Italian media reported Tuesday.

The suspect, Serhii Kuznietsov, has opposed the extradition and his lawyer, Nicola Canestrini, said they would appeal the decision by an appeals court in Bologna to Italy’s highest Cassation Court, the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera reported.

Canestrini said his client was denied his right to attend the extradition hearing Sept. 9 and had not received all of the documents regarding his case from Germany. Canestrini did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Kuznietsov, 49, was detained in August near the Adriatic coastal city of Rimini on a European arrest warrant.

Undersea explosions on Sept. 26, 2022, damaged pipelines that carry Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. The damage added to tensions over the war in Ukraine as European countries moved to wean themselves off Russian energy sources following the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

German prosecutors have given few details of their investigation, but said two years ago they found traces of undersea explosives in samples taken from a yacht that was searched as part of the probe.