NEW YORK, August 21. /TASS/. A Ukrainian man who has been arrested in Italy on suspicion of involvement in the sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines previously worked for Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

According to the newspaper, the suspect, Sergey K., is a retired captain in Ukraine’s army. He previously served in the SBU and even commanded a unit that specialized in aerial defenses.

In line with the European arrest warrant system, the WSJ continued, Italian authorities must extradite the detainee to Germany where he may face charges carrying a sentence of up to 15 years behind bars.

Earlier, the police force in Rimini reported arresting a Ukrainian national in a local hotel on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued in Germany. He is suspected of complicity in organizing sabotage on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in September 2022.

On September 26, 2022, three strings of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 offshore gas pipelines sustained enormous damage. The latter had not yet been put into operation. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Moscow is certain that the Nord Stream sabotage was carried out with US support. The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has opened an investigation into an act of international terrorism.