Tens of thousands of people living near a military base in western Germany were urged to stop using tap water on Thursday evening as authorities investigated a possible act of sabotage at a water supply facility.
The warning was issued after a breach in the fence was discovered at the water reservoir in the Mechernich area near Bonn. The all-clear was finally given on Friday morning, but residents were asked to boil their water before drinking it.
A day earlier, an air force base near Cologne-Bonn Airport had been cordoned off for several hours because “abnormal water values” had been detected in the water supply.
Separately, NATO reported an attempt to penetrate its base in Geilenkirchen near the Dutch border.
The extent of the sabotage in the three incidents remains unclear, although the German army is on high alert due to the Russian war in Ukraine.
NATO’s AWACS reconnaissance aircraft are stationed in Geilenkirchen, and the Cologne-Wahn base near the regional airport is home to the top brass of the German Air Force and aircraft used by ministers for their trips abroad.
More than 5,000 soldiers and civilians are expected to work at the Cologne-Wahn site. Although the outer fence was not damaged, a hole was discovered in the fence near the barracks’ water supply.
So far, no one has been arrested in any of the three suspected acts of sabotage.
Residents of Mechernich and surrounding towns and villages rushed to stock up on water bottles on Thursday evening as firefighters drove through the area warning people not to use tap water for drinking, showering or preparing food, regional public broadcaster WDR reported.
Military officials are taking the recent incidents very seriously. German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said this week, even before the terror storms occurred, that Germany was exposed to an increased risk of Russian sabotage.
“The threats we have to protect ourselves from range from espionage, sabotage and cyber attacks to state terrorism,” she told Handelsblatt on Monday. The Ukrainian advance into Russian territory could even exacerbate this threat.
In the Kursk region, the Ukrainians are apparently using Marder armored vehicles supplied from Germany.
Germany is the second largest donor of military aid to Ukraine after the USA. Providing approximately €28 billion (£24 billion) since the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion in February 2022, according to the latest figures.
Just last month, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution warned of an increased risk of acts of sabotage and reports emerged of a suspected Russian assassination attempt on the head of Germany’s largest arms company, Rheinmetall.
Last April, two German-Russian citizens with dual nationality were arrested in the southwestern state of Bavaria. They were accused of planning sabotage attacks on military or industrial targets.
