German lawmakers Marcus Faber and Konstantin von Notz have expressed concerns that recent incidents at two military bases in Germany could be the result of a Russian sabotage operation.
The incidents, which have raised alarms within Germany’s defense community, are being investigated as potential acts of foreign interference, with Russia as the primary suspect.
Marcus Faber, a representative of the Free Democratic Party and the chairman of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, pointed to the close timing of the events at the barracks in Cologne as a possible indicator of coordinated sabotage. “Given the temporal proximity of the incidents at two barracks, one could assume that a hostile actor wants to demonstrate their sabotage capabilities here in our territory. The actor most interested in doing this right now is Putin,” Faber explained, as reported by Welt.
Konstantin von Notz, a member of the Green Party and chairman of the Bundestag’s Parliamentary Oversight Committee, echoed Faber’s concerns, suggesting that these events could be part of a Russian operation. “Of course, there is suspicion that this could be a Russian sabotage operation,” von Notz stated, adding that this theory is a “concrete working hypothesis.”
Von Notz further emphasized the plausibility of such actions, noting, “No one should doubt that something like this is possible, and that Russia also has the meticulousness to carry out such activities.”
The concerns come after two significant security breaches at German military installations. On Wednesday, military barracks near Cologne were sealed off following suspicions that saboteurs had contaminated the water supply. In a separate incident, the NATO airbase in Geilenkirchen, Germany, was temporarily closed due to suspected sabotage. Later, Cologne police confirmed that the incident at the airbase is being treated as an illegal intrusion.