Celia Hatton

But the German prosecutors persisted and they had a second suspect.

This summer, Sergei Kuznetsov was arrested on holiday in Italy.

Fighting his extradition, his lawyer also argued that a Russian pipeline was fair target.

Critically, he pointed out that Sergei had been serving in the Ukrainian military at the time of the blast.

So how could he abandon the front line and mount a major attack abroad without his commanders, even his government, knowing about it?

I spoke to Sehi's Italian lawyer here in Rome.

Has he said whether he did this or didn't do it?

Those were his words?

Instead, the Italian judge did extradite Serhii and his own government stayed silent.

The most frank comment I got came from the Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmitry Lubinets.

He told me the Polish judge had had the right idea, considering the context of Russia's invasion.

But on record, no one will go further than that.

Because abandoning a soldier looks bad.

But riskier still is losing Germany as an ally, when its support is critical for the entire Ukrainian military, for all its soldiers.

The controversial trial of Sergei Kuznetsov should begin in Germany next year.

What he chooses to reveal then will define how this drama unfolds.

Sarah Rainsford.

Still to come in this podcast, what's the fate of protected sharks in the Mediterranean?

A project monitoring fishing ports on the coast of North Africa suggests that at least 40 great white sharks from that sea have been caught and killed since January.

A scam exploiting vulnerable families with sick children.