Security incidents in Germany: Augsburg explosion and Bergheim power station sabotage

A train station in southern Germany was closed as police investigated a small explosion. Meanwhile, a malfunction at a German power station near Cologne is being probed as a deliberate act.

Minor injuries reported after object explodes near Augsburg train station. Police are investigating 'criminal act' at power station near Cologne. Germany is weighing further action against Russia after announcing it was behind the drone incident at Leipzig airport.

After Germany on Tuesday said Moscow was behind an attempted drone attack at an airport in Leipzig, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that the contract for the cultural center "Russian House" would be cancelled. The Russian House is centrally located on Friedrichstrasse in the heart of the German capital.

Augsburg train station reopened after police sealed off the area while investigating an early morning blast that left two passers-by aged 17 and 18 with minor acoustic trauma. According to the Bild tabloid, police said a hand grenade exploded outside a jewelry shop next to the station, causing minor damage to the facade. Police have not immediately confirmed the report of a grenade.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Wednesday said that the European Union is working on imposing more sanctions on Russian individuals in the coming weeks. "Russia has escalated and must live with the consequences," Wadephul said. The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said that the Leipzig incident had "all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism." The ministers said the Russian consulate general in Bonn would be closed, along with the termination of the lease for the Russian House.

Police are investigating a disruption at a power station in the town of Bergheim in western Germany, near Cologne. "Based on the current status of the investigation, we do not believe this was caused by a technical malfunction, but rather by a deliberate act, a criminal offense," a police spokesperson said. The incident comes as tensions are high after unknown individuals attempted to cause short circuits in extra-high-voltage power lines near the Jänschwalde coal-fired power plant in the eastern state of Brandenburg.