Hundreds of cars damaged German authorities suspect Russia behind series of sabotages
German police are investigating suspected Russian agents who are said to have systematically damaged vehicles in several federal states.
05.02.2025, 13:37
05.02.2025, 17:21
SDA
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- German security authorities suspect that a Russian secret service is behind a series of acts of sabotage against more than 270 cars in several federal states.
- The exhaust pipes were clogged with construction foam.
- Signs pointing to the Green Party were placed at the scene of the crime, possibly to make the acts appear to be the actions of radical climate activists.
Police in Germany are investigating the suspicion that a Russian secret service is behind a series of acts of sabotage against cars in several federal states. According to initial investigations, it is assumed that the saboteurs received money for their actions from a Russian client, according to security sources.
The news magazine "Der Spiegel" first reported on the results of the investigation. According to the report, more than 270 vehicles in the federal states of Berlin, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Brandenburg were involved.
43 reports received
According to the "Spiegel" report, a police patrol in Schönefeld, Brandenburg, noticed a van with three young men carrying several cartridges of construction foam.
Shortly after the check, 43 reports were received from car owners whose vehicles had had their exhaust pipes blocked with construction foam. Scraps of paper with slogans referring to the Green Party were left at the scene - possibly an attempt to portray the crime as an action by radical climate activists.
"For months, espionage and sabotage have been used in a targeted attempt to stir up uncertainty, fuel existing conflicts and divide us as a society," commented Konstantin von Notz, a Green Party politician for internal affairs, on the series of sabotages. For months now, the domestic secret service (Verfassungsschutz) has seen a tendency among Russian actors to recruit people - some from the petty criminal milieu - to carry out espionage and sabotage operations for money.
