Suspicion of sabotage at Bundeswehr sites in Cologne-Wahn and Geilenkirchen: Extremist groups may be working together, according to a terror expert.
Cologne/Geilenkirchen – Apparently there are targeted attacks on the German army. On the night of Wednesday (14 August) there was an “incident” at the Cologne-Wahn air base, as it was officially called. According to initial information, a waterworks was sabotaged and the barracks’ drinking water may have been contaminated. A short time later, the NATO airfield in Geilenkirchen – around an hour from Cologne – was cordoned off due to suspected sabotage.
Sabotage against the German army in Cologne-Wahn and Geilenkirchen: State security also investigates
The investigators speak of the suspicion of a “crime against the Bundeswehr”. In addition to the police and military police, the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) and the State Security Service are also involved in the investigations. In Cologne, soldiers are said to have complained of nausea, and water samples from the barracks were examined – with no result as yet.
Nothing was initially known about the exact background to the incidents, and the Ministry of Defense has not yet commented in detail. Security experts, meanwhile, do not rule out that the sabotage attempts could have been directly or indirectly controlled by Russia.
After suspicion of sabotage: “Check whether it was a Russian attack attempt”
Terrorism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) sees three groups that could be considered suspects: in the broadest sense, Russian and Russian-supported actors, radical Islamists or left-wing extremists. He currently considers one suspicion to be particularly likely: “First of all, I would check whether it was a Russian or Russian-supported attack attempt or whether it was at least initiated by Russia,” said Schindler in an interview with IPPEN.MEDIA.
There is much to suggest a Russian attack attempt: Germany has been the focus of Russian attackers since 2022 at the latest, if not since the Minsk Agreement in 2015. The NATO base in Geilenkirchen in particular plays a role in the context of the Ukraine war: AWACS aircraft are stationed there, which can be used to observe movements on NATO’s eastern flank, for example. This makes it a potentially prominent target for pro-Russian forces.
Hybrid warfare: “It’s getting tougher”
“The number of attacks from the area of hybrid warfare is increasing. It is getting tougher,” said Schindler. CDU Bundestag member Serap Güler, who sits on the Defense Committee, warned of hybrid attacks in an interview with this editorial team a few months ago: “The security authorities also need to focus more on this,” said Güler at the time.
The experts are observing two main directions: on the one hand, disinformation campaigns designed to create uncertainty, and on the other, cyberattacks or even outright sabotage. Russian aggressors could also resort to right-wing extremist groups for acts of sabotage in Germany: “There are clear connections there, for example to the Russian Imperial Movement,” explains Schindler.
Sabotage against barracks in Cologne and Geilenkirchen: “Over 100 Germans active on the Russian side”
A large number of German citizens are fighting on the Russian side, both in paramilitary groups and directly for the state. “Germany is a record-breaker in this respect: According to reasonable estimates, over 100 Germans are active on the Russian side in the war. By comparison, only a few people are from France.”
The extent to which right-wing extremist groups work together across Europe can be seen in the actions of the Scandinavian ultra-right Nordic Resistance Movement. “Some members of the Nordic Resistance Movement learned how to handle explosives in a training camp run by the Russian Imperial Movement in Russia in the past and then used them in attacks in Scandinavia,” says Schindler.
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