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One of Nato’s most sensitive military bases was put on a state of high alert for almost 24 hours over intelligence warnings of a potential sabotage attack by Russian agents.
Geilenkirchen in north-west Germany, the home of Nato’s Awacs aerial reconnaissance fleet, sent all non-essential personnel home on Thursday evening as part of a security lockdown of the base. It was the second such incident at a military site on German territory in under two weeks.
A spokesperson for the facility, close to the Dutch border, said core military operations had not been affected and Nato had continued to operate Awacs flights — which provide the alliance with vital long-range early warning information and intelligence on hostile military activity.
“The Nato Airborne Early Warning & Control Force has raised the security level at Nato air base Geilenkirchen,” said spokesperson Donny Demmers on Friday morning. “This is based on intelligence indicating a potential threat . . . The safety of our staff is a top priority. Critical operations at the air base continue as planned.”
The state of alert was a “precautionary measure”, Demmers said.
The base lowered the security level and said it would begin allowing staff to return late on Friday afternoon.
Military and local police were brought in to provide extra security at the site but no indication of a breach was found, despite the intelligence.
The lockdown of the airfield — known in Nato jargon as alert level Charlie, the second highest state of emergency — comes after another nearby military base, in Cologne-Wahn, went on alert this month after an intruder was discovered to have cut through fencing in an apparent attempt to reach the base’s water supply unit.
It is also the second incident at Geilenkirchen, where a man was stopped from trespassing on to the site at the same time as the alleged sabotage attempt at Cologne-Wahn. That incident was unconnected with the current alert at Geilenkirchen, officials said.
Military sites across Germany have been warned to prepare for potential acts of sabotage as part of what western intelligence agencies believe is a mounting campaign of covert violence being plotted by Russian spies and their proxies.
Last week 10,000 residents in the area of a German military base in Mechernich were told to drink only bottled water after holes were found in fencing around a local pumping station. Authorities eventually concluded the supply had not been contaminated.
As well as being vital for Nato’s own defence capabilities, the Awacs fleet based at Geilenkirchen has been used to aid Ukraine by providing it with vital intelligence.
Awacs flights in international airspace over the Black Sea have been able to gather significant detail on Russian military positions and manoeuvres thanks to their powerful long-range capabilities.
Western security officials believe the Kremlin has ordered its intelligence services to inflict physical damage on European domestic and military targets in reprisal for European support of Ukraine.
Moscow has recently accused the west of backing Ukraine’s counter-incursion in Russia’s Kursk region, which also started earlier this month.
While the Kremlin’s agents have a long history of sabotage, evidence was growing of a more aggressive and concerted effort this year, intelligence officials told the Financial Times in May.
Numerous people have been arrested in connection to alleged foiled plots around Europe since — varying in degrees of sophistication and seriousness.
Security officials described a “pinprick” campaign designed to unsettle and probe European military and infrastructure weaknesses — and to try and undermine support for Ukraine.
Last month details emerged of a conspiracy to assassinate the chief executive of Europe’s largest arms manufacturer, Armin Papperger of Rheinmetall, over his company’s support for Kyiv’s war effort.
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said the plot was not an isolated attempt.