Germany Investigates Second Power Grid Sabotage Amid Hybrid Warfare Concerns
Escalating Attacks on German Infrastructure Raise Security Fears
FRANKFURT, Sept 2 (Reuters) - German police were on Wednesday investigating a second sabotage attempt on the electricity grid within 24 hours, a day after Berlin blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at an airport.
The incidents come at a sensitive moment, with the far-right Alternative for Germany(AfD) - which wants closer German ties with Moscow - topping polls before a state election this weekend, and Berlin facing a growing threat of hybrid warfare.
Government Response and Accusations Against Russia
The government said on Tuesday it had concluded that Russia was behind the attempted drone attack on a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle airport last month - an incident which European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday bore all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism.
Moscow says there is no evidence to support the accusations that it was behind the attack, but German authorities are on high alert for attacks on vital infrastructure.
Sabotage Attempts on Power Grid
Premeditated Vandalism Near Bergheim
'PREMEDITATED VANDALISM'
Local police said they were investigating an act of premeditated vandalism on the technical infrastructure of a power substation near the western city of Bergheim at 1800 GMT on Tuesday.
A police spokesperson declined to specify the damage but said the region's power supply was not affected.
Electricity grid operator Amprion, which is majority-owned by Germany's largest power producer RWE, said it was likely that external interference caused the incident and that power supply and grid stability were upheld throughout.
RWE said in a separate statement that the incident had prompted five lignite power plant units with 4,200 megawatts (MW) in combined capacity to go off the grid.
One of the affected blocks covering 600 MW has been reconnected, the company said.
Sabotage on Eastern Power Grid
SABOTAGE ON EASTERN POWER GRID
Also on Tuesday, devices carrying conductive material damaged power lines at one of the most critical high-voltage nodes in the eastern state of Brandenburg.
Brandenburg's interior minister, Jan Redmann, said there appeared to be parallels between the attacks but that investigations were at a very early stage.
He said there were some differences between the Brandenburg attack and a 2024 arson attack by far-left extremists targeting the power supply of Tesla's German plant, but he could not rule out any suspects.
Political and Security Implications
Alexander Throm, who heads German parliament's domestic affairs committee, told Reuters the number of disruptive incidents before this weekend's election in the state of Saxony-Anhalt was "extremely suspicious".
Opinion polls suggest the AfD, an anti-immigrant party with strong support in the east, could win power for the first time at state level. The party has called for an end to German support for Ukraine and a resumption of energy agreements with Moscow that provided Germany with cheap oil and gas until supplies were halted in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.
Leonhard Birnbaum, CEO of Europe's largest network operator E.ON, said last month that full protection of grid infrastructure was illusory, adding operators could make it as hard as possible for perpetrators but not fully avoid attacks.
Calling for better protection, Redmann said: "Just a few weeks ago, we were discussing our airports at length; now, the focus has shifted back to energy supply facilities."
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger and Christoph Steitz, writing by Miranda Murray, editing by Tom Hogue and Thomas Seythal)
