Italy approves extradition to Germany of Ukrainian suspect in North Stream pipeline explosions
Milan (AP) – An Italian Court of Appeal approved the extradition to Germany of a Ukrainian man arrested last month, suspected of having triggered explosions that damaged the gas rivers pipelines between Russia and Germany, Italian media reported on Tuesday.
The suspect, Serhii Kuznietsov, opposed extradition and his lawyer, Nicola Canestrini, said they would appeal the decision by a court of appeal to Bologna to the highest court of cassation of Italy, reported the Italian newspaper Corriere della will be.
Canestrini said his client was refused his right to attend the extradition hearing on September 9 and had not received all the documents concerning his Germany case. Canestrini did not immediately return a call asking for comments.
Kuznietsov, 49, was detained in August near the coastal city of Adriatic of Rimini on a European arrest warrant.
The underwater explosions on September 26, 2022, damaged pipelines which transport Russian natural gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Damage added to tensions during the war in Ukraine while European countries have moved to wean up Russian energy sources after the large -scale invasion of the Kremlin of Ukraine.
German prosecutors have given few details on their investigation, but said two years ago that they had found traces of underwater explosives in samples taken from a yacht that had been searched as part of the probe.
