The base in western Germany employs thousands of soldiers and civilians. Officials believe the tap water may have been purposely contaminated.
Germany’s Cologne-Wahn military base has been sealed off after a suspected act of sabotage against its water supply, news outlets reported Wednesday.
The base near Cologne-Bonn airport employs 4,300 soldiers and 1,200 civilians and is also home to a fleet of military aircraft used by Chancellor Olaf Scholz for international travel.
According to news magazine Der Spiegel, authorities told employees at the base not to drink the tap water, as they believed it had been contiminated. They also found damage to a fence at the edge of the property.
Police, military police, and the military intelligence agency MAD are all looking into the alleged crime, Spiegel said.
Police cordoned off a large area and it was no longer permitted to enter or leave the barracks.
“We have our reasons for taking this action, and we take the case seriously,” a spokesperson for the Territorial Command in Berlin was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.
Increasing attacks by Russian intelligence
It could not be immediately confirmed who had carried out the sabotage, but NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg had recently warned that a pattern was evolving of Russian intelligence becoming more bold in its operations against member states. This went for cyberattacks as well as field operations.
Poland, the UK, and the Czech Republic have reported similar incidents in the past months.
