A Ukrainian national suspected of orchestrating the 2022 Nord Stream gas pipeline explosions has begun a hunger strike in an Italian high-security prison, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old, identified as Serhii K., has been in pre-trial detention in Italy since the summer and is awaiting potential extradition to Germany.

Why is the Nord Stream suspect on hunger strike?

His attorney, Nicola Canestrini, said the protest began on October 31 to demand respect for his client's basic rights, including proper nutrition and "dignified detention conditions."

K. is also demanding "equal treatment with other inmates regarding family visits and access to information," Canestrini added.

Canestrini called for urgent intervention by the prison administration and the Italian Justice Ministry "to ensure conditions consistent with constitutional and international standards".

K. was arrested in August while on vacation near Rimini with his family. Germany's federal prosecutor accuses him of jointly causing an explosion and committing anti-constitutional sabotage in connection with the attacks on gas pipelines from Russia in the Baltic Sea three years ago.

An appeals court in Bologna has approved his transfer to German custody, but Canestrini said he would again appeal to Italy's Supreme Court. That court had previously halted extradition after an earlier green light from Bologna in September.

The timing of the next hearing in Rome remains unclear. If extradited, the trial would likely take place in Hamburg.

What was the effect of the Nord Stream attack?

The attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines caused a worldwide sensation three years ago. Almost half a year after the start of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, several explosions damaged the two pipelines so severely that no gas could flow through them anymore.

One of the two newer pipelines was also badly damaged, although it had not yet been put into service after Germany suspended their certification just days before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Last month, a Polish court halted Germany's request to extradite another Ukrainian man accused of involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline blasts and ordered his release.

Edited by: Rana Taha