German authorities confirmed on Friday 23 August that they had opened an investigation after several unknown drones were spotted over a sensitive industrial site in Brunsbüttel (Schleswig-Holstein), less than 100 kilometres from Hamburg. The aircraft flew over a chemical and gas industrial zone considered critical for the country's energy security during the night from Thursday to Friday.
The threat is all the more worrying because it seems to be recurring: several flights of the same type have been recorded in the last two weeks at the same location, with incursions of up to five aircraft per night, the police said. The Flensburg (north) prosecutor's office said on Friday morning that the investigation was focusing on a “suspicion of agent activity for sabotage purposes” against critical infrastructure, without further details. The possibility of a Russian operation is being seriously considered by the intelligence services. According to the newspaper Imagethe devices could have taken off from civilian ships in the North Sea, piloted by Russian agents.
Brunsbüttel is a target as strategic as it is symbolic. The small town at the mouth of the Elbe is famous for its liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, which was connected to the network in early 2023. The site is home to one of three floating terminals currently operating across the Rhine, hastily ordered by Berlin after the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022. These gigantic ships, which serve as a storage and regasification unit for LNG, have allowed Germany to partially replace its Russian gas deliveries with LNG imports, mainly from the United States.
For years, Berlin had refused to equip itself with such terminals, relying on the security of Russian supplies via pipeline, which are more economical. According to the German government's plans, five floating units are to be connected to the network in the long term. In Brunsbüttel, the energy site, which also includes chemical plants, is prohibited from being flown over.
“Clearly organized” attacks
The repeated incursions over the site in recent weeks confirm that Germany is particularly vulnerable to attacks of this kind. None of the measures taken by the police so far have been able to put an end to these drone flights, to the point that the German army has been called into action. The Ministry of Defense has had a strike force specialized in drones for several months, after noting multiple illegal flights over Bundeswehr training sites. This has notably occurred at the Klietz base in the east of the country, where Ukrainian soldiers are training to handle Leopard tanks.
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Source: Lemonde
