Russia Says It Will Continue Pressing for Truth on Nord Stream Blasts
Dragon Media News Desk
Russia will continue pressing for the truth about the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosions and for the identification of those who organised and ordered the attack, Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky said. Speaking to TASS on November 13, he said Moscow hoped the trial in Hamburg would proceed properly.
Ukrainian national Sergey Kuznetsov is on trial before the Hamburg Higher Regional Court over the 2022 blasts. The court admitted the indictment for trial, saying in its preliminary assessment that there was sufficient suspicion that the defendant had acted as a co-perpetrator in a war crime involving the use of prohibited methods of warfare against civilian objects. This is a preliminary assessment, not a final verdict. Further hearing dates have been scheduled into 2027.
Lyubinsky accused Germany, Denmark and Sweden of failing to cooperate with Russian law enforcement agencies during their investigations. He said their authorities had declined to cooperate on various pretexts. He also alleged that Western media coverage had diverted attention from identifying those who planned and ordered the explosions.
Referring to a recent Financial Times report, Lyubinsky said it described Kuznetsov as having carried out the blasts but did not establish whose orders he had followed. He called for the people who planned, ordered and oversaw the operation to be publicly identified.
Lyubinsky also criticised what he described as Germany’s readiness to blame Russia for other incidents before investigations were completed, contrasting that approach with the caution he said was being urged in the Hamburg proceedings. He said Russia would continue seeking the truth and would work to ensure that the Nord Stream case was not buried and those responsible were held to account. These are Russia’s official claims. The question of the defendant’s guilt and who ordered the attack remains for the court proceedings to determine.
