Third German grid sabotage attempt as state election looms

Launch devices were found near high-voltage lines and a transformer station south of Duesseldorf in western Germany, utility RWE said on Friday, heightening a state of alert after two suspected sabotage ‌attempts this week. The power plant operator said its RWE Power division had increased security measures in close coordination with grid operator Amprion and with authorities, though its operations had not been impaired.

Germany has been the focus of European fears about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure this week, ‌ahead of a closely watched election on Sunday in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. The far-right, Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany (AfD) holds a commanding lead ‌in surveys.

Germany's Interior Ministry said it was "no coincidence" that such "hybrid attacks" were happening on the eve of the election. Bild newspaper and other news outlets reported that the launchers found in Dormagen, south of Duesseldorf, were similar to others found at a substation in nearby Bergheim, where objects were hauled over power lines to short-circuit grid infrastructure.

The ⁠Bergheim ​incident took 4,200 megawatts in generating capacity ⁠offline on Tuesday but no blackouts occurred. CLAIM OF RESPONSIBILITY

Bild reported that a man had claimed responsibility for both incidents in a handwritten letter, in which he ⁠also revealed his identity, but it was unclear whether he was the perpetrator. Cologne police, in the same region, told Reuters they had knowledge of a ​letter claiming responsibility. Police and RWE declined to give further details while the investigation was under way.

Allies rallied round after Germany ⁠blamed a drone attack in August at Leipzig/Halle airport on Moscow as part of hybrid warfare meant to intimidate and divide countries that have supported Ukraine since Russia's ⁠full-scale ​invasion in 2022. Russia has dismissed the allegations as baseless. A spokesperson for Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the number of attacks that had been foiled or been unsuccessful was "a sign of how our security measures work – and that they do work".

In the other sabotage ⁠incident this week, devices carrying conductive material damaged power lines at one of the most critical high-voltage nodes in the eastern state of ⁠Brandenburg. Separately on Friday, police in ⁠the town of Ganderkesee near Bremen found the door to a control enclosure at a transformer station open at 3 a.m., and searched the area with a helicopter and dogs.

The facility was undamaged and ‌nobody was found ‌but an investigation was continuing, police said.