Serhiy Kuznetsov, held in an Italian prison and wanted by the German judiciary on suspicion of carrying out the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline attacks, is in critical condition, according to Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets. Kuznetsov has been on a hunger strike for nine days after a court in Bologna again approved his extradition to Germany.
Serhiy Kuznetsov, a former captain in the Ukrainian army, is accused of organizing and executing the attacks on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in September 2022. He was arrested on August 21, 2025, in Rimini, Italy, under a European Arrest Warrant issued by the German judicial authorities.
In the following months, Italian courts at various levels approved his extradition to Germany, which seeks to put him on trial. Later, however, the Italian Supreme Court (Court of Cassation) overturned the earlier appellate ruling authorizing extradition and sent the case back for reconsideration.
On October 27, 2025, the Court of Appeal in Bologna ruled in favor of extraditing the 49-year-old Serhiy Kuznetsov to Germany. Kuznetsov’s defense attorney, Nicola Canestrini, announced that he would appeal the decision once again to the Supreme Court.
On October 31, while in custody, Kuznetsov began a hunger strike. Canestrini told Italian media that his client refuses to eat, demanding respect for his basic rights.
According to the lawyer, these rights concern adequate nutrition in line with Kuznetsov’s health condition, humane detention conditions, and equal treatment compared with other inmates – particularly regarding family visits and access to information. The lawyer stated that he had appealed to the prison administration and the Italian Ministry of Justice to intervene.
Wife: Kuznetsov in critical condition
Ukraine’s Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, has taken an interest in the case. On social media, he reported meeting with Kuznetsov’s wife, Halyna, who said her husband remains on hunger strike and is in critical medical condition.
“This situation requires immediate action, and I have taken personal control over it,”
Lubinets wrote.
He stated that he had sent official letters to Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy’s Ministry of Justice, the Vice-President of the European Parliament Pina Picierno, Italy’s Ombudsman Marino Fardelli, and the Italian National Guarantor for the Rights of Persons Deprived of Personal Liberty.
“We must do everything possible to protect the rights of a Ukrainian citizen. Detaining Serhiy in a high-security facility and in improper conditions is unacceptable and violates the European Convention on Human Rights,”
wrote Lubinets.
German media report that Kuznetsov is alleged to have been the organizer of the attack on the Russian-German Nord Stream pipelines, rather than merely one of the operation’s coordinators, as previously believed. His lawyer, however, emphasizes the “political and military nature of the alleged actions, which fall within the context of operations connected to an international armed conflict.”
Zhuravlov to remain in Poland
On October 17, 2025, a Polish court refused to extradite another Ukrainian sought by Germany in connection with the Nord Stream explosions – Volodymyr Zhuravlov. He was also released from temporary custody.
In his reasoning, Judge Dariusz Łubowski stated that – without determining whether the Ukrainian committed the act or not – such actions were not unlawful. On the contrary, they were “justified, rational, and fair,” since attacks on an aggressor’s critical infrastructure carried out by armed forces or special operations units during wartime constitute acts of diversion, not sabotage, and therefore cannot be considered crimes.
He explained that the act was committed during Russia’s “bloody and genocidal aggression against Ukraine,” ongoing since 2014, and argued that responsibility could rest only with the state – specifically, the Ukrainian state – and that only that state could be held accountable.