Germany Investigates Attacks on Power Infrastructure as NATO Chief Warns Moscow Is Becoming Reckless

German officials are investigating a growing number of attacks on critical infrastructure and whether such sabotage is the result of Russia-sponsored terrorism or left-wing extremists.The latest incidents involve disruptions at two power substations. In one incident saboteurs at Bergheim substation caused a short circuit by placing conductive material on the lines. Energy company RWE said five power-generating units at two coal-fired plants were affected by the incident. Three units were expected to be restarted Wednesday, but it was expected to take until the weekend to restart the other two. Customers did not face widespread blackouts.North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister, Herbert Reul, called it an attack on Germany, its economy, and its citizens. “This was deliberate,” Mr. Reul said at a news conference.Mr. Reul said the incident was either sabotage directed by a foreign government or carried out by left-wing extremists. “We cannot rule out either possibility at this time,” Mr. Reul said.Explosive devices were also found Tuesday at a substation near the Jänschwalde coal-fired power plant at Brandenburg. The plant’s operator, 50Hertz, said attackers used homemade projectiles resembling commercially available firework rockets to damage lines in the transmission grid. The company said all lines are back in operation after a brief interruption. It credited the redundant design of the transmission grid with helping to avoid a widespread outage.“We take this incident very seriously and are working closely with the security authorities,” 50Hertz said in an update on its website. The company asked customers in the entire grid area to pay special attention and to report any suspicious persons and incidents to the police.Brandenburg police said that a terror investigation was underway in connection with attackers “causing an explosion involving explosives and the destruction of important work equipment.” Police remained on the scene on Wednesday to carry out widespread ground searches in an effort to find additional evidence.The goal of the attack appeared to be a large-scale power outage. Brandenburg’s interior minister, Jan Redmann, said the area was lucky that more damage didn’t take out more power infrastructure.“What we are currently experiencing is a hybrid threat, and in that regard, we cannot rule out the possibility that foreign powers are behind it,” Mr. Redmann told news outlet ARD.The incidents come as Germany is under a heightened state of alert due to security incidents involving Russia. On Tuesday, the government blamed Moscow for an August drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Drones armed with explosives were found near Ukrainian cargo planes but they did not detonate. German media reported Wednesday that two men with ties to Russia have been identified in connection with the attempted attack at the airport.A German news outlet reported that authorities have identified the suspects as a Russian-born man with a Latvian passport and a man from Belarus with a Russian passport. They were believed to still be at large after slipping out of Germany.Russia denies any connection to the attack. The Russian embassy at Berlin referred to the incident as a “hastily concocted provocation.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen held an emergency meeting Wednesday at Brussels with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to discuss the incident. “This was an attack using military-grade material carried out by Russian operatives on European Union soil. We will not tolerate it,” Ms. von der Leyen told reporters.Ms. von der Leyen said the airport attack was part of a broader pattern of dangerous incidents by Moscow and warned that European governments needed to consider their everyday infrastructure as “frontline targets” that needed increased protection.Mr. Rutte said Russia was becoming more reckless with its operations in Europe. “We have seen an increase in malign activities targeting our territories directly,” Mr. Rutte told reporters. “Whether it is fires in factories producing defense equipment for Ukraine, or indeed, the Russian hybrid attack in Leipzig.”

Germany Investigates Attacks on Power Infrastructure as NATO Chief Warns Moscow Is Becoming Reckless

Germany Investigates Attacks on Power Infrastructure as NATO Chief Warns Moscow Is Becoming Reckless

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