German authorities are investigating multiple suspected sabotage incidents for a failed explosive-laden drone incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport on 4 August, amid fears of Russian hybrid warfare.
German officials (Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and others) cited the drone’s configuration, components, explosives, operational pattern, and intelligence findings as matching known Russian hybrid operations.
Local police said an attempt had been made to short-circuit a power grid installation in the city of Dormagen, North Rhine-Westphalia, German newspaper Bild reports. Police have received a letter claiming responsibility.
And separately, police in the northern town of Ganderkesee, Lower Saxony, cordoned off a transformer station on Friday citing suspicious circumstances.
A police spokesman said officers had made a discovery overnight that required a police response without providing further details, but said there was no danger to the public.
Earlier this week, Germany was already grappling with two suspected sabotage cases.
In the first, authorities were investigating vandalism at a substation in Bergheim, 30 minutes’ drive from Dormagen, that prompted five brown-coal power plant units with a combined capacity of 4,200 megawatts to temporarily go off-grid.
In the other, devices carrying conductive material damaged power lines at one of the most critical high-voltage nodes in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
Nato member Germany, which supports Ukraine in its fight against Russia, has long accused Moscow of targeting it with a campaign of hybrid attacks involving espionage and sabotage – charges denied by Russia.
