Germany records 165 suspected sabotage cases in 2026
German federal and state security authorities have registered 165 suspected cases of sabotage since the beginning of 2026. The highest number of such incidents was recorded in Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria, The Local Germany reports, citing an analysis by Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office.
A total of 320 suspected cases of sabotage were registered in the country throughout 2025. Among the latest incidents being investigated by law enforcement are cases at energy facilities, on the railway and at a construction site.
Attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport
On Tuesday, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that the German government considers Russia, the aggressor state, responsible for an attempted hybrid attack involving a drone with explosives at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 4. According to him, this conclusion is based on data from the official investigation.
As part of the investigation, German authorities named two suspects holding Russian passports. Law enforcement officers also found DNA traces on items left at the scene. Dobrindt described the case as part of a series of hybrid attacks which, he said, are organized by Russia and carried out by lower-level operatives.
The Russian Federation, the aggressor state, called the accusations absurd and warned of consequences. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul announced plans to tighten entry controls for Russian citizens, close the Russian consulate in Bonn and terminate the agreement concerning the Russian House cultural center in Berlin.
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Incidents at energy and transport facilities
On the same day in Brandenburg, improvised explosive devices were used in an incident being treated as a probable arson attack on the Jänschwalde coal-fired power plant. In Bergheim, North Rhine-Westphalia, perpetrators targeted overhead power lines. Significant power outages were avoided in both cases.
On Wednesday, an explosion occurred in the passageway of Augsburg Central Station. Two people were injured in the blast, and train services were disrupted for several hours. Police also examined a suspicious package near the scene.
On Thursday, an arson attack occurred at a construction site in Munich. The investigation was transferred to the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office after it emerged that the likely target was an office of a defense company.
Police are also investigating possible sabotage attempts at energy substations in Dormagen and Weisweiler near Aachen. At Berlin's BER Airport, Terminal 1 was evacuated for several hours overnight from Thursday to Friday after a woman reported a dangerous substance in her bag. As of Friday morning, law enforcement officers were still assessing the circumstances of the case and had not said whether they were treating it as sabotage.
