Two events of the last 72 hours might be correlated: 1) Nord Stream AG has brought the EU into court. 2) The German Federal Court of Cassation has accused Ukraine of being behind the Nord Stream sabotage on Sept. 26, 2022.
On Jan. 12, the EU Official Journal reported that Nord Stream 2 AG, the consortium that built and managed the Nord Stream pipeline underneath the Baltic Sea from St. Petersburg, Russia to Greifswald, Germany, is taking legal action against the EU over sanctions imposed on the pipeline. According to the publication, the lawsuit was filed on Oct. 13, 2025. The aim of the lawsuit is to enable maintenance of the pipeline.
The Third Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice rejected the appeal against detention filed by a Ukrainian citizen accused of involvement in the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines. The sentence was issued on Dec. 10, 2025, but was reported on Jan. 15, 2026 in German media.
As Berliner Zeitung reports: “The judges in Karlsruhe are careful in their wording. They speak of ‘strong suspicion,’ ‘highly probable’ involvement, and evidence suggesting ‘state control of the events.’ They do not name the alleged instigator. Nor do they need to. The context is unambiguous.
… In its reasoning, the Federal Court of Justice goes a remarkable step further than previous statements by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. It states: ‘It is highly probable that he and his accomplices were acting on behalf of a foreign state.',” i.e., referring to Kiev.
