Saboteurs are said to have planned attacks in Germany in the service of Russia. Security experts have been warning about this for weeks – and about another danger.
Berlin – Once again it becomes clear that the fear of Russian attacks in Germany is not abstract. In Bayreuth, northern Bavaria, police arrested two men on Thursday (April 18) on suspicion of preparing the attack. They are said to have spied on US bases and planned attacks on military transport routes - according to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), in order to undermine aid to Ukraine.
Security experts have been warning about such attacks for weeks and have made it clear: the number of acts of sabotage will soon rise significantly. Germany should prepare.
Suspected saboteurs from Russia arrested in Bayreuth: actions intended to unsettle
It was only at the end of March that the Bundestag's intelligence committee called on the government to better arm the country against Russian influence operations. The CDU interior expert Serap Güler also
warned of attacks in Germany in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA .
This refers to concerted actions that are intended to divide and unsettle society, as well as spying and physical attacks. “The targeted use of disinformation campaigns has long been part of the Russian strategy, which aims to identify and expand social tensions in Europe and Germany,” explained extremism expert Hans-Jakob Schindler from the Counter Extremism Project in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
Security experts: The number of disinformation campaigns from Russia will increase significantly
An example from the past: The “Lisa case” from 2016. At that time, a false report about an alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl by a “southerner” was spread across parts of the Russian-speaking community in Germany. This caused a huge media response in Russia. The allegations later turned out to be fake news. Security circles say there will probably be more campaigns like this again very soon.
Saboteurs arrested in Bavaria probably wanted to disrupt aid to Kiev in the Ukraine war
And now there are apparently concrete plans for attacks. The aim of the suspected saboteurs is said to have been to disrupt aid from the West to Kiev in the Ukraine war. The federal and state governments have been on alert for some time. A spokeswoman for the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Interior recently explained when asked: “Military and political escalations increase the pressure on intelligence services of authoritarian states to obtain information and assert interests. At the same time, they lower the inhibition threshold for state terrorist activities or sabotage, since the escalation limits have already been pushed back by the war.”
Interior Ministry: “Germany one of the main targets”
And the Federal Ministry of the Interior told
IPPEN.MEDIA
that Germany is one of the main targets for Russian campaigns and attacks. “The security authorities keep an eye on all illegitimate activities of foreign powers in Germany – espionage, disinformation, cyber activities.” However, one cannot comment publicly on individual findings.
Meanwhile, experts warn that Germany is not sufficiently prepared against cyberattacks or attacks on critical infrastructure. The computer scientist Klaus Schilling, for example, explained in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA
that the government urgently needs to invest in its own satellite network. He is an expert in telematics at the Association of German Engineers (VDI). Schilling is concerned with so-called satellite constellations, i.e. groups of small satellites that orbit the Earth in a low orbit.
Expert calls for investments in modern satellite system: “Ukraine war shows how important this is”
With Starlink, US entrepreneur Elon Musk has had such a network in space for years. Germany, like the rest of Europe, is clearly lagging behind, Schilling warned: “If communications systems are destroyed in attacks on critical infrastructure, then the only way is via satellite.”
How important such communication networks are was seen at the beginning of the Ukraine war. Russian attacks paralyzed the infrastructure in parts of the country. This was noticed in Germany at the time because there had been disruptions in the control of wind farms - as collateral damage, so to speak. Without a modern communication system using satellites, there would be serious security gaps in the medium term, said Schilling.