Serhii Kuznietsov, arrested in Italy last month on a German warrant, denies involvement and will appeal the ruling, his lawyer Nicola Canestrini told AFP.
Kuznietsov, who says he was a member of the Ukrainian armed forces at the time, is accused of being part of a cell which placed explosives on the underwater pipelines in September 2022.
He faces up to 15 years in jail if found guilty in Germany, according to the ruling by the court in the northern Italian city of Bologna.
The pipelines that for years shipped Russian gas to Europe were damaged by huge blasts just months after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Western powers who back Kyiv were initially quick to blame Russia, which in turn accused them.
German investigations have identified a Ukrainian cell of five men and one woman as the perpetrators of the blasts.
When he was arrested, German prosecutors said Kuznietsov had used forged identity documents to charter a yacht, which departed from the German city of Rostock to carry out the attacks.
Kuznietsov says he was in Ukraine at the time of the explosions, and will "appeal... the Bologna court of appeal's decision to order his surrender to Germany", his lawyer said in a statement Tuesday.
READ ALSO: Investigators link Ukrainian-owned yacht to Nord Stream sabotage, reports claim
Italy's Court of Cassation is expected to rule on the case in around a month's time, Canestrini said.
In the meantime, Kuznietsov is being held in a high-security prison in northern Italy.
'Fundamental rights'
In court, according to Tuesday's ruling, Kuznietsov's team argued that even if he had been involved, he could not face the charges as they stand as he was a soldier following orders at a time of war.
Canestrini insisted the "military nature of the alleged acts entails functional immunity" under international law.
Kuznietsov's status as "a member of the Ukraine armed forces at the relevant time... (also) cannot be disregarded", he added.
Kuznietsov's defence team also argued that the pipelines could be seen as a legitimate military target during a war, so the attack on them was not sabotage.
However, the court said the German arrest warrant did not mention his military role, adding that it was not in its remit to determine whether or not the blowing up of the pipelines was sabotage.
In announcing the decision to appeal, Canestrini alleged "serious violations of our client's fundamental rights" by the Bologna court.
"Kuznietsov was not allowed to personally attend his own hearings and was denied full access to the German case file, in clear breach of the right to a fair trial," he said.
READ ALSO: Six months on, what do we know about the Nord Stream blasts?
Moreover, "the interpretation (translation) provided during the hearings was wholly inadequate, severely impairing the effectiveness of the defence", he said.
"Fundamental rights -- fair trial, detention conditions, functional immunity -- cannot be sacrificed in the name of automatic judicial cooperation," he added.
Nord Stream had long been contentious for enabling Russian gas to bypass eastern European transit routes and leaving Germany overly reliant on cheap energy from Moscow.
Russia profited from being Germany's top natural gas supplier, but the EU has sanctioned and massively cut its imports of Russian energy amid Moscow's offensive on Ukraine.
None of the pipelines hit were in operation at the time of the blast.
The extension pipeline -- Nord Stream 2 -- was only completed shortly before Russia sent troops into Ukraine and never entered service.
Comments