Sabotage against German electricity infrastructure is being investigated as a possible terrorist crime

On Monday evening, there was a disruption in the power supply that passed through a substation in Bergheim in the Rhineland in western Germany.

- We do not believe that it is due to a technical error, but to an intentional act, says a police spokesperson to Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

Cables had been laid on top of the power lines to cause a short circuit, says Herbert Reul, interior minister of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, according to the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper.

It affected operations at two connected coal-fired power plants. However, it should not have led to any power outages.

Explosives found

On Tuesday, a similar event took place on the other side of the country. Several explosive devices were found at a substation in the federal state of Brandenburg in the east. The station is connected to Jänschwalde, which is one of Germany's largest coal-fired power plants.

On Wednesday, German police announced that it was being investigated as a possible terrorist crime.

On Monday, Germany's government accused Russia of being behind sabotage plans where explosive-laden drones were found at Leipzig/Halle airport earlier in August. There, and in many other countries in Europe, there have been alarms about an escalation in Russian hybrid warfare alongside the war in Ukraine.

In January of this year, there was a sabotage against the electricity network in Berlin where the power was cut for around 45,000 households. Then it was a left-wing extremist group that took responsibility.