France, Oct. 14 -- Proceedings opened on Wednesday at Hamburg's Higher Regional Court against Serhii K., a former Ukrainian military officer accused of leading the team behind the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea.

The 50-year-old, identified in earlier extradition documents as Serhii Kuznietsov, is the first person to stand trial over the sabotage.

German prosecutors accuse him of organising a team that included divers, an explosives expert and a boat captain.

They allege that he entered Germany in early September 2022 using a forged Ukrainian passport, before the group boarded a yacht hired in Rostock and sailed towards the Nord Stream pipelines near the Danish island of Bornholm.

Amer...