German police react to new sabotage attempts on power grids, Bild reports

German police reacted to two ​fresh suspected attempts against ​the country's electricity grid, newspaper ‌Bild reported ​on Friday, heightening the nation's state of alert after an attempted drone attack at Leipzig ‌airport that Berlin has blamed on Russia. Bild cited local police as saying an attempt had been made to short-circuit a power grid installation ‌in Dormagen, a city in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ‌Police have received a letter claiming responsibility, according to the report.

Separately, police in the northern town of Ganderkesee cordoned off a transformer station on Friday, citing suspicious circumstances, according ⁠to ​Bild and other ⁠local media. A police spokesperson told public broadcaster NDR that officers had made a discovery ⁠overnight that required a police response, without providing further details.

There was no ​danger to the public, the spokesperson said. Reuters could not immediately ⁠reach police for comment on the incidents.

Earlier this week, Germany was already grappling with ⁠two suspected ​sabotage cases. In the first, authorities were investigating vandalism at a substation in Bergheim in North Rhine-Westphalia that prompted lignite power ⁠plant units with 4,200 megawatts (MW) in combined capacity to temporarily go off the 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.